Is it just me or have you noticed that everyone you talk to is only interested in talking about themselves. All conversations are verbal memoirs full of I, I, I, me, me dialog. This kind of conversation used to be the property of Hollywood and other not too bright egoists. Now everybody’s doing it, or maybe it just seems that way because I hang out mostly with older, retired folks.
Earlier in our lives our relative status was obvious by where we went to school, what we did for a living, how much money we made, where we lived, what we wore, and on and on. In retirement, those clues aren’t immediately evident so we must establish our importance by constructing elaborate verbal resumes, creating anecdotes for every conversation, and go through the rest of our lives playing “I can top that” with everyone we meet. It’s the geezer version of “mine’s-bigger-than-yours” played out verbally.
I challenge you to pick a topic, their view of Obamacare, did Roseanne deserve to be dumped, or the plot of an old Cary Grant movie and have a conversation with someone, be they an old pal or a total stranger. You’ll soon see how pathetic your conversational partner really is. I’m willing to bet he or she will quickly turn the conversation into an all-about-them chat while inserting more I’s and me’s than you can count. These people take every topic as a cue to launch into their own personal anecdotes.
And don’t you hate the, “I can top that,” braggarts. No matter what you mention, they’ve done it faster, more often, better, cheaper, or whatever than you have.
Are we all that insecure?
And, aren’t you glad that you and I don’t do that.
Too Much Tequila, Too Little Sunscreen 