The other morning, I woke up, got ready for my day, and hopped on the elevator to begin my morning commute. As the door was closing, a woman jumped in at the very last minute. I was standing patiently waiting for the elevator to reach the basement. I did not say anything, besides a cordial "hello". You can choose to have painfully awkward silence...OR you could opt for the painfully awkward conversation. On this particular morning, I did not have a choice.
This woman was jabbering on about any topic she could think of. As a general principle, elevator conversation SHOULD be confined to relatively uncontroversial topics which can be discussed to a satisfying depth in the minutes it takes to travel between floors. Such topics include but are not limited to the weather, matters related to the building in which the elevator is located, major sporting events, and the local sports team’s run up to the playoffs. On this particular morning, weather was the topic of conversation. It's always fascinated me how people talk about weather when they feel awkward, or when they feel as if they have nothing else of value to say.
In fact, in an article written by Trevor A. Harley in 2003, the British are notorious for striking up conversation about weather with strangers. Weather is a safe topic for conversation, especially in an elevator, because it does not delve into sensitive or deep personal matters. There are several reasons why weather is such a popular topic of conversation. - its unpredictability, variability, enviromental prominence and importance and impersonal nature. You can talk about what the weather is going to be like in the near future, extreme weather events, and you can also reminisce about past weather. Lucky for me, I got to enjoy all three tidbits of information while riding five floors down to the basement. The conversation started off with "So, it's supposed to be a lot cooler outside today". That led to a period of reminisicing about how hot and miserable it's been in the city over the past few weeks. Then...silence. Until I heard her awkward farewell as she stepped off the elevator onto the first floor. "Okay, I'm off, have a great day - oh and by the way the pollen count is up! My allergies are killing..." (elevator door shut)
I love watching the silly things people do when they feel awkward...talking about weather, pretending they are on their cell phones, fidgeting, stumbling over their words, eye contact avoidance...I love it.
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2 comments:
Elevator conversations are so awkward. And I have them like ten times a day. However, they are trailed closely in awkwardness by the between building walk conversations I have going back and forth at work. I've actually talked about the weather with 6 people today.
how tall of a building were you in? certainly this event didn't take place in your apartment complex because you're like a floor up.
still, i agree about the weather conversation. i try to avoid it at all costs now.
miss you. i swear we will talk by monday.
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