In the middle of learning – by Donald F. Gately

There’s an expression I like to use. 

“You can thank me. With any luck, that will be the most boring conversation you’ll have today.”

(Sometimes  I’ll add, “And look, it’s only 9:00 am.”)  

I just had a chance to use it yesterday. I spoke to one of my wife’s colleagues about the extra screen I bought for my laptop. It only cost $50, but it’s a game changer. It weighs less than 3 lbs. I bought a nifty little folder case so it doesn’t get damaged. I can’t recall how we got on the topic. Something inside me must have felt compelled to steer the conversation there.  I mean, it is a really sweet extra screen. And it was much cheaper than you would think it would cost. But why did I feel compelled to engage my friend in this conversation?

These boring conversations probably start with me. They share some commonalities if I take a minute to consider them. 

They often involve:

Something that costs less than you’d expect it to. I’ve got a constant episode of Antiques Roadshow running in my mind. Whenever I can, I share something surprisingly cheap or expensive. I do this with whoever is across from me. Did you know that a container of half and half now costs $4.59? It’s an outrage.

Something I heard on a podcast. Any podcast. Examples: What is the most common artifact found by historians/archaeologists at the Jamestown Fort? Irish coins. Peter Stuyvesant wore a wooden prosthetic leg, reportedly decorated with silver bands, earning him the nickname “Peg-Leg Pete.”   I know, can you imagine, insufferable.

 A recent conversation with someone you don’t know. About something that doesn’t concern you. Preceded by a long digression about how I know the person you don’t know.

Something you can do with artificial intelligence that you might not have known you can do with artificial intelligence. For example, looking up the location of a scene on a beach from a streaming TV show my wife and I are watching, which you are not watching… yet. And did you know it’s the same beach where they filmed the opening sequence from Saving Private Ryan? Digressions ensue.  The year the oldest candy store in New York was first opened: 

Economy Candy, located on New York City’s Lower East Side, opened in 1937. Initially, it operated as a shoe and hat repair shop named Economy Shoes, with a pushcart outside selling candy. Over time, the candy sales became more popular, leading the owners to transition fully into a candy store, establishing Economy Candy as a beloved local institution. 

Now that I see it written out, that’s fascinating, dude.

Never Sports. I don’t watch enough sports. If I watched more sports, I’d have more interesting things to discuss. But wait, it gets worse; the one sport I watch a great deal of… is British soccer. My team, Liverpool. So, I was awake at 7:30 this morning to watch a match. Would you like to talk to me about it for 20 minutes?

Having reflected, should I call my wife’s colleague back to apologize? I fear that I’d twist him into another boring conversation. Eh,  He seemed into it.