Instant Messenger has become the death of my conversational ability.
I’m so used to having at least a bit of time to come up with witty responses to questions, that I’ve started to freeze when I have to come up with them on the spot.
I’m also not as good anymore at filling gaping holes in a conversation, mostly because they don’t really matter on IM, since you know whoever you’re talking to is probably carrying on three simultaneous conversations anyway.
I’ve never been good at small talk, but I have found myself grasping at straws during awkward pauses in conversation. This happened before I became a serious IM addict, but it’s been quite a bit more acute ever since.
I’m sure that writing this weblog hasn’t particularly helped either, since I generally tend to go through and edit everything at least once before I post it, even if I’m just giving it a once-over.
The ability to edit myself in my communcations with the outside world has become something I’ve taken for granted, and the art of simply talking to someone is something that I really need to relearn.
Especially when it’s someone cute and I’m having to try my damndest not to trip over my tongue and/or make an ass of myself in the first place.
Alas, this is a problem that can only be solved by two things: 1. Tearing myself away from the computer and 2. Practice. Which means, oh darn, I’m just going to have to keep going out with Megan (aka Rugby Chick) until she either sleeps with me or tells me to fuck off.
As with most things with me, the word “fuck” will be involved somehow.
(ducks flurry of objects thrown at screens across the universe…or Evanston, to be a hell of a lot more accurate).