Chatters

rarely fail to charm me. When I was younger I would get completely freaked out by older folks who would engage me on the weather, school, their adult (and therefore thoroughly incomprehensible) lives. Why were they talking to me? What did they want from me? What did they want me to say??? Ever the obliging conversationalist, I would listen and try hard to figure out interesting replies and meaningful grunts to show my interest in them but it would always be a struggle. I would feel like there was some secret adult code language that I hadn't learned yet that, when mastered, would allow me to hold forth on any topic with anybody at any level of depth. Someday, I was sure, I would always know the right thing to say.

Turns out that day never came. Moreover, turns out there is no right or wrong way to talk to people. There's this guy in Utah that I have been communicating with for my job and after 2 telephone conversations, I can tell you stories from his childhood, the subject of his favorite documentary and how his son's baseball pitch is improving. He is a chatter. Granted, while speaking with him, I am sometimes seized by the old panic of what-do-I-say-when-you-tell-me-an-anecdote-about-how-you-almost-died-from-heat-stroke-when-you-were-12-years-old, but mostly I just sit back and allow myself to enjoy the random bits of life that some people can't help but share with you. This guy, like most chatters, is really just a friendly soul eager to connect with others. I may not share his same openness and I may not always know what to say but enjoying the odd awkward moment when navigating personalities different from my own is one of the awesome things about being an adult.