A few years back, I developed the habit of inserting carefully chosen words into my speech in order to demand those within ear shot attend to the task of actually listening. I especially enjoy using commonly known but uncommonly used words when answering the harmless question, “How are you?” Faced with an unexpected response and a smile, people will almost always break from their non-thinking routine into a real human exchange. I like offering that to the people in my world and find that they seem to like it, too.
Here are 5 of my favorites.
I have been known, on occasion, to drop quotes like "That thou doest, do quickly" into conversation -- at appropriate points, of course -- just to see if people recognize the source, and to see who's paying attention.
ReplyDeleteThe best response I ever got was, "Dear me: I hope it's not as serious as 'That'."
That's a good one, Kim. One of my co-workers used to always say "fat and sassy" when somebody asked her how she was. But she used the answer so much that it turned dull and annoying.
ReplyDeleteMine should be "a day late and a dollar short," but that's old, too. You're right...stellar is best.
It's true, Kim, people are usually not listening, they can't tell you what you just said to them. A person has be be trained to listen.
ReplyDeleteSecretia