No point whatsoever.....sorry!

WhiteWashMan

i think the whole point is being polite.
thats all.
besides, if i say hi how are you, i really dont want to know all about your moaning and complaining. i put up with it from castor, but im not putting up with from the rest of yea coz i really dont give a fcuk about yis

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your Dungeon Is Full Of Yoghurt.....

p

I think you've mixed up two things there.

I say excuse me when going through a crowd to be polite, to let someone know that i'm coming so I don't have to bump into them. Words like please and thank you are still nice to hear and use.

People sayign 'how are you' and things like that do kind of annoy me. I'm not too bothered myself, I just don't use them.

As for being completely honest,
well i'd go for that. I think it'd be much better in the long run.

- Kevin

Bard

I dunno if I'm alone in this, but if I ask someone "how are you?", "are you well?", "how are things?", etc. - I genuinely want to know... otherwise I don't ask.

I also only say "good to see you!", "you're looking well", etc. if I mean it - no point in beating around the bush... but then again, I generally speak and write very logically and literally to people... - that's not to say I can't be figurative or creative in my speech or writings, it just comes from dealing with certain people (who shall remain un-named!) over quite some time, that I'm that bit more careful than usual these days about what I directly say or write to someone.

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Bard

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'First motorbike in the bible ???? ---- a Triumph --- 'Yea verily Moses struck down the ammmanites and all the land heard the roar of his triumph !!!'

[This message has been edited by Bard (edited 21-08-2001).]

Yo Mamma

Not sure where I'm going with this- just musing, I guess...

Yesterday some woman was trying to get by me in a rather crowded aisle and said, ''excusemepardonmethankyou'' as if it were all one word, before I had any chance to move, and without even looking at me. It got me to thinking about the things we say dozens of times a day without ever thinking about what we're saying. For example: ''Please.'' ''Thank you.'' ''No problem.'' ''Sorry.'' (And anyone in a customer service related job can multiply the number of times they say things like that least ten times over.)

But we don't just blather on to strangers. We say these things all the time to people we care about as well. ''How are you?'' ''Fine.'' When really you're not fine at all- there's a twinge in your back that won't go away, you owe thousands to the Bank, your neighbor's dog won't stop barking, or maybe you've got a nagging headache from saying ''sorry'' about a million fcuking times a day for things that you have no control over!

What if we all just quit doing it? I'm sure this has been fodder for many a sci-fi story before (Everybody Tells the Truth for a Day in 24 serialized chapters or somesuch) but I don't even mean the total truth (''Yes honey, your ar3e looks HUGE in those pants and by the way, I'm having an affair with our dog'')- just stop mouthing superfluous words that have become so omnipresent they have no meaning except in their absence. If someone crowds up against you on the public transport and doesn't say, ''excuse me''- you get a little ticked off, don't you? Why? Do you really think they gave the slightest thought to you or your comfort before those words left their lips? No, they have just been adequately society-broken, and that's what you do.

Start out small. ''You know, hon, I'm not sorry I took the last french fry- I was really fcuking hungry.'' Don't come crying to me because you quit saying ''please pass the potatoes'' and your mama btich-slaps you into next week- just think about what you're saying as you do it. Just for one day.

It could be the death of inane conversation as we know it.

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Never look here !!

Gerry

I know exactly what you mean, yo mamma. I have just finished working in a retail job, fortunately. One of the things that I didn't like about it was the fakeness of it. I was polite to customers at all times, but this usually entailed saying the same thing all day, every day. I found country people more genuine to deal with, for example if I asked "How are you?", they were more likely to give it a tiny bit of thought instead of just shooting back "Fine" automatically.

I eventually stopped saying it all the time. The point is, that it is good to hear please and thank you and how are you, but only if it is genuine, and not automatic. If it is fake, well we might drop the charade and be honest.