To the person who PMed me today... - Page 19

xcptnl · 03-16-2009, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeepcurlygurl

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amneris

LOL, can you imagine in real life if you started a conversation about, say, ice cream, and people discussed that a little and then someone said "Oh, I had the best ice cream in France" and someone else said "You went to France? Did you go to the Louvre?" and that person said "Yeah - I saw the pyramid that was in the DaVinci Code movie" and someone else said "Oh, I hated that movie" and you started yelling "HEY GUYS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ICE CREAM. Don't derail my ice cream conversation by talking about the DaVinci Code. You're being so rude. I started the conversation and I get to control what we talk about?"

That's hilarious.
My boss cannot stay on topic for more than 1/83rd of 1 second. He can easily go from talk of ice cream to The daVinci Code with nothing related in between. He would drive linear thinkers to the brink of madness in about a half hour.

I love conversations that go all over the place - you get so much accomplished!

And I am a thread killer - so this one will rest in peace.

The New Black · 03-16-2009, 02:58 PM

Jeep-

I'm like your boss...In college, when I'd switch topics real fast, a guy I knew would yell, "All aboard the thought train! Woo woo!" and he'd pump his arm up and down like a train conductor... Hee...

cympreni · 03-16-2009, 04:22 PM

My grandpa is the worst about going of onto tangents, except his tangents look more like trees. He has a story to explain everything better. Then another to explain something in that story, and one for that story, and another and another and another. You could ask the man a question that could be answered in 1 simple sentence, and 4 hours later still not get an answer. And once he gets started, there's no reeling him in.

LisaF1163 · 03-16-2009, 05:17 PM

So your grandpa is my mom? Freaky!

The New Black · 03-16-2009, 06:09 PM

^^^No, I'm Cympreni's granddad...

nynaeve77 · 03-16-2009, 06:33 PM

No, obviously cympreni is her OWN grandpa, just like the song!

cympreni · 03-16-2009, 06:59 PM

No trust me, everyone is very linear compared to him. He can barely say two sentences before derailing. And it's not other people derailing him. He derails himself.

It goes something like this:

Directions? Sure. First go down 3rd street until you get to that restaurant there. They have the really good fish there btw. Not as good as mine of course. But I can't make mine anymore. The Lokota banned killing animals even for food. It doesn't taste the same if you don't catch it yourself. Do you know what the lokota word for fish is? It's blahblah for men. I couldn't tell you what the word women would use. Men don't learn women's words and vice versa. Are you about ready for a sweat yet? I didn't tell you what happened at the last one did I. There was this girl there from Germany and she. . . . I went to Germany once. Lovely place. There was this woman there that was just like my first gf. She used to make the best pancakes. Hey do you have enough maple syrup. You know I tap my own. You can come up and help me if you want. Last year when I did it, I had a hard time keeping the fire up. That reminds me of this camping trip I went on 10 years ago. . . .

And on and on and on. Seriously. That's how he talks. We only reunited with him about 2 years ago or so. We are always joking he's trying to make up for all the lost years and tell us everything in 1 conversation. But he goes off on tangents so much that we never learn anything. We barely get more then 5% of any story before he's off somewhere else.

The New Black · 03-16-2009, 07:39 PM

That is HYSTERICAL!

jeepcurlygurl · 03-17-2009, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cympreni

No trust me, everyone is very linear compared to him. He can barely say two sentences before derailing. And it's not other people derailing him. He derails himself.

It goes something like this:

Directions? Sure. First go down 3rd street until you get to that restaurant there. They have the really good fish there btw. Not as good as mine of course. But I can't make mine anymore. The Lokota banned killing animals even for food. It doesn't taste the same if you don't catch it yourself. Do you know what the lokota word for fish is? It's blahblah for men. I couldn't tell you what the word women would use. Men don't learn women's words and vice versa. Are you about ready for a sweat yet? I didn't tell you what happened at the last one did I. There was this girl there from Germany and she. . . . I went to Germany once. Lovely place. There was this woman there that was just like my first gf. She used to make the best pancakes. Hey do you have enough maple syrup. You know I tap my own. You can come up and help me if you want. Last year when I did it, I had a hard time keeping the fire up. That reminds me of this camping trip I went on 10 years ago. . . .

Your grandpa is my boss! Seriously, that's how he talks 7 hours a day. And I've been with him for 22 years. Which means I am now totally off my rocker. And now I need to go buy some syrup.

geeky · 03-17-2009, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cympreni

Directions? Sure. First go down 3rd street until you get to that restaurant there. They have the really good fish there btw. Not as good as mine of course. But I can't make mine anymore. The Lokota banned killing animals even for food. It doesn't taste the same if you don't catch it yourself. Do you know what the lokota word for fish is? It's blahblah for men. I couldn't tell you what the word women would use. Men don't learn women's words and vice versa. Are you about ready for a sweat yet? I didn't tell you what happened at the last one did I. There was this girl there from Germany and she. . . . I went to Germany once. Lovely place. There was this woman there that was just like my first gf. She used to make the best pancakes. Hey do you have enough maple syrup. You know I tap my own. You can come up and help me if you want. Last year when I did it, I had a hard time keeping the fire up. That reminds me of this camping trip I went on 10 years ago. . . .

That's my grandma, except she won't stop until she's worked her way back to the original story, and she remembers all the steps in between too. And she will tell you the exact date of that camping trip.

xcptnl · 03-17-2009, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geeky

Quote:

Originally Posted by cympreni

Directions? Sure. First go down 3rd street until you get to that restaurant there. They have the really good fish there btw. Not as good as mine of course. But I can't make mine anymore. The Lokota banned killing animals even for food. It doesn't taste the same if you don't catch it yourself. Do you know what the lokota word for fish is? It's blahblah for men. I couldn't tell you what the word women would use. Men don't learn women's words and vice versa. Are you about ready for a sweat yet? I didn't tell you what happened at the last one did I. There was this girl there from Germany and she. . . . I went to Germany once. Lovely place. There was this woman there that was just like my first gf. She used to make the best pancakes. Hey do you have enough maple syrup. You know I tap my own. You can come up and help me if you want. Last year when I did it, I had a hard time keeping the fire up. That reminds me of this camping trip I went on 10 years ago. . . .

That's my grandma, except she won't stop until she's worked her way back to the original story, and she remembers all the steps in between too. And she will tell you the exact date of that camping trip.

That is me and my girlfriend - we scare people. We can have a 5 minute conversation and cover 40 topics. No one can follow our conversations.

Cynaminbear · 03-17-2009, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cympreni

No trust me, everyone is very linear compared to him. He can barely say two sentences before derailing. And it's not other people derailing him. He derails himself.

It goes something like this:

Directions? Sure. First go down 3rd street until you get to that restaurant there. They have the really good fish there btw. Not as good as mine of course. But I can't make mine anymore. The Lokota banned killing animals even for food. It doesn't taste the same if you don't catch it yourself. Do you know what the lokota word for fish is? It's blahblah for men. I couldn't tell you what the word women would use. Men don't learn women's words and vice versa. Are you about ready for a sweat yet? I didn't tell you what happened at the last one did I. There was this girl there from Germany and she. . . . I went to Germany once. Lovely place. There was this woman there that was just like my first gf. She used to make the best pancakes. Hey do you have enough maple syrup. You know I tap my own. You can come up and help me if you want. Last year when I did it, I had a hard time keeping the fire up. That reminds me of this camping trip I went on 10 years ago. . . .

And on and on and on. Seriously. That's how he talks. We only reunited with him about 2 years ago or so. We are always joking he's trying to make up for all the lost years and tell us everything in 1 conversation. But he goes off on tangents so much that we never learn anything. We barely get more then 5% of any story before he's off somewhere else.

Uh, oh. That's me in 30 years.
I hate being like this, too. Feeling like I have to explain why something is so important to the story. I wish I could just say what I need to say succinctly.

LisaF1163 · 03-17-2009, 11:57 AM

I'm telling you, that's my mom! Your grandpa having a conversation with my mom would take about eleventy billion years.

vegas_curls · 03-17-2009, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cympreni

No trust me, everyone is very linear compared to him. He can barely say two sentences before derailing. And it's not other people derailing him. He derails himself.

It goes something like this:

Directions? Sure. First go down 3rd street until you get to that restaurant there. They have the really good fish there btw. Not as good as mine of course. But I can't make mine anymore. The Lokota banned killing animals even for food. It doesn't taste the same if you don't catch it yourself. Do you know what the lokota word for fish is? It's blahblah for men. I couldn't tell you what the word women would use. Men don't learn women's words and vice versa. Are you about ready for a sweat yet? I didn't tell you what happened at the last one did I. There was this girl there from Germany and she. . . . I went to Germany once. Lovely place. There was this woman there that was just like my first gf. She used to make the best pancakes. Hey do you have enough maple syrup. You know I tap my own. You can come up and help me if you want. Last year when I did it, I had a hard time keeping the fire up. That reminds me of this camping trip I went on 10 years ago. . . .

And on and on and on. Seriously. That's how he talks. We only reunited with him about 2 years ago or so. We are always joking he's trying to make up for all the lost years and tell us everything in 1 conversation. But he goes off on tangents so much that we never learn anything. We barely get more then 5% of any story before he's off somewhere else.

Wow - my dad is the complete and utter polar opposite of this. Sometimes trying to have a conversation with him is like pulling teeth. As a matter of fact, yeah, I've had teeth pulled with better success than talking to him at times.

Thing is, my dad is NOT shy. He's just quiet and prefers not to talk. Ask him a question that requires a paragraph answer, and he can manage to answer it with a slight gesture (shrug, nod, or shaking of the head), or a 1- or 2-syllable answer. On his talkative days, you might get BOTH. You can see in his eyes that his mind is racing a million miles an hour, but still, he keeps his answers to the very minimum.

This is made up, but a perfect example of talking to him:
Me: What did you think of Germany?
Him: *shrug*...*nod*... Nice.
Me: (pause, wait for him to elaborate, but he doesn't) Okay... well... did you do a lot of touring?
Him: mm-hmm.
Me: (another pause... still waiting for details...) Uh... so... Okaaay... so how was the food?
Him: Good.

And on and on it goes. That's my dad. Gotta love him.