King for a lifetime, fool for a... lifetime...

If you said yes, then you're a good person. It seems lately that my tolerance for small-talk has dwindled. So much so that its turning me into a bitter curmudgeon. I'll give you an example. I'm making some copies today at work and this guy who I've seen around but never really bothered to talk to shows up. He's got some copies to make as well, but he waits for me to finish. Just waiting isn't enough, though. He fidgets and shifts his weight while throwing out any number of topics from the generic conversation file in his head. It's always with the 'how abouts.' "How about this weather?" or, "How about those Lakers?" or, "How's the show going?" I appease him, but I don't really care about talking with him. I just want to make my copies, grab a P.O. sheet, and get back downstairs so I can finish up on some work. Am I a bad person for thinking this way? I don't think so. I'm just not interested in talking right now, much less having a forced conversation because this jackass can't stand the silent hum of his own thoughts rattling around in his head.

Another case, this past weekend I'm renting my tux and the proprietor of the store, upon finding out that I worked in television, regaled me with a story about how The Jimmy Kimmell Show did a bit at his store. Nice enough story. Seems like a nice man. Know what, though? I just want to get my tux and go. I've got errands to run, parties to set up. So save the Kimmell story for another time. I don't know if I could ever tell him that because I didn't want him to over-charge me on the tux. But damn it, I just didn't have the time for his string of anecdotes.

Ah... patience is a virtue.