The art of small talk

[Fiches Mouser]

Just read this article which got me thinking: when have you totally mis-judged the small talk expectations in a place. I know I've done it before.

 

[harvyk]

Closest I've gotten, I was in the US, and I was invited around this guys place for dinner with another bunch of randoms I'd met that day. We where talking about all sorts of random stuff when I was ask what the outside world actually thought of the USA. This was just post Bush years and I had no idea if they were republicans or democrats / pro or anti war. As a result I ended up giving the most diplomatic answer I had ever given.

The answer was obviously accepted as I as they continued giving me beer for the rest of the night, played board games and a good time was had by all.

Something I've noticed is that in general, our Aussie way of not taking ourselves too seriously and generally been friendly tends to smooth over cultural differences pretty well. In some places it can be a real asset (eg the US)

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I've been married for 23 or so years and together for 30 and only last year did I relent to buying a wedding ring.......due to small talk.

I hate wedding rings with a passion (I'm a tradie....rings tend to have the side effect of not just cutting off ones testicl_s, but also the finger attached). However, the lack of a ring was viewed last year as meaning I was "looking", to a lady in a region where multiple wives are par for course. My definite demeanour of "one wife is one too many" did not tend to expose itself to her and the small talk, small actions (which still make my skin crawl) and her forthright suggestion that all I had to do to be the recipient of her affections, was to pay to her family, 50 pigs (she talked herself down from 55 without a word from me) and a token amount of cash, combined to make the purchase of the dreaded wedding ring seem so much more bearable!