Is Blogging right for Me (not you)? You decide.

You're a polite person.

You do not want to offend anyone.

You're standing outside of an airport waiting to hail a cab.  You've been away from home for three weeks and you're only back in town for a few hours to see your family, change out your luggage and head back out to the airport for a flight out of town for another three weeks. 

I walk up and stand next to you waiting for a cab.  There is a comfortable distance between us and I am certainly not impeding on your space.  But you're a polite person.  You instigate small talk with me. 

"Sure is a long wait for a cab."
"Yup"

"At least it's pleasant outside"
"Yes it is."

"How has your day been?  Did you enjoy the flight?"  And there you have it. 

Chances are your are now going to miss your cab, not see your family and have to wear the same clothes you've been wearing for three weeks for THREE MORE WEEKS!!!!

See, what you just did there was ask me about my day.  And as a polite person, you can not walk away until I am done.  I am so sorry, I really am, but there is a chance you're not even going to make your next flight now, because, I'm going to tell you how my day has been!

But the thing is, you don't know me.  So now, I have to give you an example of comparison days so you are able to understand how I am able to evaluate the quality of this particular day.  And in giving you an idea of days comparable and in contrast to today, I have to give you some insight into my life and what makes me who I am and how it has all affected what I may see as positive or negative in my life.  But I certainly don't want you to feel uncomfortable with some of the misfortunes that have made me who I am, so I am going to add some jokes and humorous metaphors to lighten up some of the more serious moments. 

You deserve my honesty and truthfulness, because you were brave enough to open up a conversation with me.  I am basically a very shy person.  As you have taken the time to break through my awkward  veneer, I owe you the very best of what I can be.  I am human and I have experienced so much,  and I must tell you all about it ...  NOW!

I am not trying to be difficult, I promise. 
I am certainly not offended by you asking me such a personal question. 
I am actually burdened by it, but by no means offended. 
It takes away from my day too to have to explain it all. 
But, I must give you all the details to properly answer you!

If I had answered you with a simple "Oh it's fine," that is open to interpretation and really doesn't say an awful lot.   Its lack of detail makes it kind of a lie.  You deserve better and I will give you such.

I can't say "this was a good flight," just because we landed and the stewardess didn't see the need to slap me this particular time, without telling you about the flight I was on that blew out a tire while landing and then the plane started going a little cock-eyed down the runway and the stewardess had to slap me, twice.  THAT was not a good flight.

What if by your standards this was a crap flight?  Without my comparison flight, you might think I'm an idiot for being satisfied with such a flight.  So I can't just ASSUME you're going to approve of me for liking this one flight.  You need more data.

What if you were testing me early on when you said "At least it's pleasant outside?"  What if you hated the humidity and thought it was a little too warm and just wanted to know if I was loony enough to simply agree to what ever you spout out at me?

Well, that's why I need to tell you about the coastal towns I've lived in in the southeast and how bad the heat and humidity gets in those places.  It's really unbearable sometimes and this place, at this moment, is sooooo much better than that. 

You would not have a fair vantage point on how to understand me If I hadn't told you.  I am sacrificing my time to tell you.

I know all of this about myself and I kind of embrace it.  I am only abnormal in my attention to detail in as much as communication is slowly breaking down. 

Very few people really want to talk anymore.  They ask polite questions for no real reason and want a quick concise non-realistic answer. 

"How's your colon?"
"Fine Doc."
"C-ya."
"K"

And then you die!  Sure it was because a bus ran you over.  But if you had spent more time talking with the doctor, the bus would've been long gone when you tripped crossing the road because your pants fell down around your ankles due to you rushing out of the doctors office and forgetting to re-buckle your belt.

That's simply not right. 

So, the art of conversation seems to be going away.  I cannot tell you how many relationships would have been saved if partners would just communicate their feelings and the events of the day (which may explain their mood) rather than holding everything in until they are just yelling at you for no real reason and you can't curl up into a small enough ball to get away from the shouting and find a happy place... find a happy place... find a happy..... oh, sorry....

And there you have it.  My friends say I'm "wordy" and they may be correct.  Perhaps I am overcompensating for people in my life who don't speak much.

I have a great neighbor whom I'm pretty sure simply sees asking me "how ya doing" as a personal challenge.  He wants to see how long he can last, just to escape his wonderful daily routine, if only for a moment; a moment of his life that he really had no use for and knows that he can never ever ever get back because he asked me how I am.  Poor guy; he's so nice, he just stands there until I stop talking.

I'm sorry you missed your flight.  Next time, I'll just send you a link to my blog.