Small Talk.

[Grauntie Mag]

I met a friend for coffee this week and we were talking generally. I said I was going to have a pedicure the next day (mother’s day Gift from DDs) and although I was looking forward to it, I wasn’t looking forward to the small talk part. She suggested I drop into the conversation that I had just been released from prison. You can imagine how the conversation went from there! It was very funny with the suggestions getting more incredible by the minute! If only I had the courage to carry it through. Could you, or have you spun a yarn and got away with it? Can you enjoy small talk?
As it happened it was a very pleasant experience and the beautician was comfortable to be with without forced conversation.

[Gemini]

Oh that is so funny Grauntie

I do sometime think it would be fun/interesting to create different persona when talking to someone you will never meet again.
The problem with that is they would probably turn out to be someone who knows someone I know and I would meet then again and it would all be too embarassing!!

I don't like small talk no, which is why I dislike parties where I don't know people well.

I tell new clients that it is up to them. We can chat a little, not chat all and them just relax, or as some clients do, chat the whole time! Then they know silence is fine. They are paying after all.

[Oma]

I would trip myself up I'm useless , but it would be so funny

[Qwerty]

I don’t mind small talk , I talk to anyone, at the bus stop in a shop etc , when someone speaks to me it puts me at ease so i like to return the favour, it’s a bit like smiling at a stranger they look fuddy duddy and some are but a lot then smile back and I think good on you qwerty as for fabricating things I would be useless too they would ask me a question and I wouldn’t be able to answer it

[Nanto2girls]

I'm like you Qwerty, i don't mind small talk at all.
Hubby is the same,we will talk to anybody anywhere.

[Daisy]

I'm usually quite happy to do small talk with anybody, but sometimes for no particular reason I cant' be bothered! I think Gem's got the right idea - be lead by the client, and Grauntie, I'm glad your beautician was easy company. I bet your tootsies look lovely.

I can just imagine the lady's face if you told her your tall story! Do you think you could have kept it up with a straight face?

[Grauntie Mag]

Absolutely not Daisy 😆. I’ll happily talk to anyone and will always say good morning/afternoon/evening first. It’s the “ going away on your holidays? “ conversations I dislike, but I am always polite. I was a hairdresser for many years and I don’t think I ever said that!

[Daisy]

Grauntie, I agree! The Holiday Question, and the Doing anything Nice Tonight Question! I must admit I'm always tempted to say something really naughty to the second one!

What was your approach to small talk when you were hairdressing?

[Grauntie Mag]

It depended on the client and how well I knew them. Always politics and religion were banned subjects for us though. I don’t remember it ever being difficult to find some common ground without resorting to the banal stuff. We never spoke to each other across the client either, which seems to happen now. I do remember Friday night (late opening) being joke night. All regulars and the telling of jokes was compulsory 😂 many moons ago.
Daisy could you carry it off? Could you be outrageous and get away with it? 😆

[Gemini]

I chat to anyone on buses, in queues etc!
It is the enforced small talk I hate, seated next to someone you don't know at a wedding, or at party or yes, at the hairdressers!

Our hairdresser comes to us, and has been cutting OH's hair for many many years. She is more like a friend, so no need for small talk. She has a habit of choosing 'bad boys' so often has relationship problems to tell us about. We notice that when she is going through that sort of thing, she gets carried away and our hair is a lot shorter than we like!!!!

[Grauntie Mag]

😂😂🤣😂😂 Gem.

[Plantaholic]

I don't mind small talk, I can chat to anyone, it's shutting me up that is the problem. I am quite a nosy person so small talk is okay with me

[Daisy]

It depended on the client and how well I knew them. Always politics and religion were banned subjects for us though. I don’t remember it ever being difficult to find some common ground without resorting to the banal stuff. We never spoke to each other across the client either, which seems to happen now. I do remember Friday night (late opening) being joke night. All regulars and the telling of jokes was compulsory 😂 many moons ago.
Daisy could you carry it off? Could you be outrageous and get away with it? 😆

I have been known to wind people up, Grauntie. I remember once someone grumbling about their electricity bill. I said it was because her tv used so much and she should get it converted to gas. She believed me!!! Another time, a friend had a new dress with a cream top and a dark, patterned skirt, so it looked more like a skirt and blouse than a dress. The washing instructions said to wash dark colours separately and I said what a nuisance, because it meant unpicking the two parts every time she washed it! She believed me, too!

OH watches Corrie and it drives me made that in the scenes in the hairdressers the main characters (Audrey etc) are always talking across the poor bored looking clients, and they never do anything constructive with their hair either!

[Gemini]

Talking of winding people up Daisy, I like to lead on those scam 'Microsoft' callers with foreign accents who warn me that dire things will happen to my computer if I don't do what they advise.
The latest was a couple of days ago. I pretended to be very concerned, then said yes, I would like her to help me (more waffle from her) I want you to come here and help me please, says I. No madam just give us control of your computer, we will help you that way. But that's no good, I said, I want you to come and make my lunch as well! I put the phone down, OH was in fits of laughter

[Daisy]

Excellent, Gem. I do the same if I can. While they're wasting time with me they're not scamming somebody else.