Weather

Oscar Wilde is quoted as commenting, “Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative.”

At my local church, we often hear our pastor and prayers start with a remark about the weather. If it’s pleasant outside, we’ll thank God for appeasing to our desires (sarcasm). If it’s rainy, we’ll make a cute comment about how we wish it were warmer, yet nonetheless are thankful for the nourishment of the rain. If it’s snowy outside–well, I’m not sure what we say about snow.

My point is that conversation about the weather is so superficial. As Wilde says, it is the last refuge of the imaginative. It takes no skill or thought to make a comment about the weather. I always think it as a conversation killer because what else can you say after a, “It’s such a nice day outside”? Only, “Yes. It is,” because if you express a contrary opinion, you are breaking rule one of small talk: Avoid conflict and/or confrontation.

By the time someone begins to utter something the weather, I am thinking two things: 1) Golly, I’m going to have work extra hard to resuscitate this conversation. 2) I hate small talk, and now I’m pigeon-holed into talking about outdoor activities or missing my chance to engage in outdoor activities–way to put a choke hold on small talk–UGH I hate small talk.

Weather-talk is superficial and shallow. I will rarely evoke that subject unless I have every intention to elaborate and pursue an imaginative conversation about the weather. Perhaps I’ll talk about a particular cloud–like the cumulonimbus. Now that’s a tasty conversation.

#IntrovertOnConversation