Whatever the big, hulking elephant-in-the-room​ convo might be, we dissect it, examine it, and present it to each other along with pie graphs representing our various feelings. I’m not gonna lie -- it’s exhausting. But it ’aint small talk, baby. I’ve always been the type of person who just cuts to the chase and speak/blurts her particular truth. I have a really hard time saying “fine” when someone asks how I’m doing (something I’m working on).

If there’s one person who sucks more at small talk than me, it’s Jack. He’s forever the guy in the corner, deep in heavy conversation during a party. Long ago, I stopped nagging him to mingle, realizing that this was what Jack having fun at a party looked like. So Jack and I are the rare duo who is actually working our way toward more small talk (but hey, we started from zero).

What about you? Do people like me (who would rather have a heated debate than utter the words, “That’s nice”) drive you crazy? Or are you equally small-talk challenged?