(no subject)

So, having social anxiety generally sucks, but it does occasionally lead to advantageous habits. For example, if I need to talk to a stranger, I have almost certainly decided what I'm going to say and rehearsed it a couple of times before I approach them, because I want my interactions to go as smoothly and quickly as possible. Which means that I avoid stuff like the library patron who just came up to the desk.

What she said: "I'll put this - " (the dvd she was holding) "in there," (gesturing at the bookdrop), "just, I was wondering, seasons 3 and 4," (waving the dvd case so I can't see), "I think it might be here - could you check?"

What she meant and could have said, had she taken a minute: "Hi, I've got some dvds on hold - could you check and see if they've arrived? My name is [insert name here]*."

This is the fourth or fifth interaction I've had today that consisted of people quickly saying a bunch of garbled nonsense and me playing a guessing game to figure out what they want, when if they would just take a breath and organize their thoughts for a second, the conversation would be much easier for all of us.




*She could also have handed me her library card, but that is a rant for another time.