A few weeks ago a good friend of mine mentioned she’d heard a radio piece that revealed a surprising fact: small talk is good for you. [She also mentioned that she thought it’d be a good topic for a blog post; thanks, Francine!] I did some research (aka googling) and, lo and behold, it is indeed true: small talk is good for your health and well-being. It’s right up there with vitamin C, meditation, and Ativan.
The irony is that most of us never small talk in glowing terms, we’re more likely to complain about it. We’re more likely to complain about people we don’t know saying seemingly meaningless and insincere things to us like “How are you today?” or “Have a nice day.” We’re cynical about their intentions. We’re more likely to think, “Why can’t that person just leave me alone to get on about my business?” This thought…