Relearning to Talk

There's a point at which you and the people around get so good at reading each other's minds that there is no need to actually speak in complete or even coherent sentences. If you spend too much time around these people (usually family, close friends, or cubicle mates) and not enough time around people who don't spend that much time with you, you start to forget how to communicate with other human beings. When you are with you friends, you can say "You know the guy? With the- yeah. (laughter) That was priceless. So, anyway. I saw him the other day..." And they'll know exactly what you mean. Because you told them about it or they were there with you or you've all seen the same movies or tv shows, read the same articles, heard the same music, and somehow the thing that reminded you of what you were trying to say reminded them of it, too. I swear I've had conversations with my family that consisted entirely of incomplete thoughts and sentences.

So when you talk to people that you don't talk to as often or don't know, you almost have to remember how to talk again. How to finish a sentence because the other person really doesn't know what you are about to say. How to use nouns other than "stuff" and "guy". How to describe rather than simply emote. Or, you know...