Quote: (10-21-2016 11:39 AM)dicknixon72 Wrote:
I'm in retail sales, so I could easily take offense at an absolute encyclopedia of what people say to me. But when someone asks me, "Where are you from?" or "What are you?" or "You're from Taiwan? I LOVE Thai food!" () I don't snap, take offense, quit my job, and write slam poetry about it; I engage these [HARMLESS] people in conversation, answer the question in a congenial manner - after all they're not interrogating me, they're expressing interest in trying to engage in conversation, score some interaction points, gain mutual confidence and trust, and then use it to sell them a car.
I think a lot of the offense to that sort of stuff among "the kids these days" comes from the usual suspects: ego and narcissism.
Other people aren't part of your play. They don't have intimate knowledge about you. People say dumb things, silly things, even outrageous things from time to time for all sorts of reasons, even just because they're trying to make conversation in a situation they find themselves unfamiliar with. Hell, I do it myself plenty.
It's like they're expecting grade A conversation game to be run on them by everyone at all times, because they're the center of their universe and have grown to expect it. The real world doesn't operate that way, and there's nothing intrinsically wrong with the fact that it doesn't.