Saying a lot in a little

So the theme of the day is saying a lot with a little. This is a slightly ironic choice for someone like me, who is a huge fan of what my 3rd grade teacher would have called "chit chat." However, in some arenas in life, the value of being laconic, or at least selective in your word choice, has come to be underappreciated in my humble opinion, and thus worthly of my second blog post.

Let us first examine the most obvious area where I have noticed a tendency for unnecessary verbage: the web blog! Call me an irritable person (you wouldn't be the first), but I think there is a tremendous difference between a web blog and a personal diary, and this is a distinction that many a misguided blogger has not yet realized. Does anyone really read those blogs that drone on for pages and pages, exploring every little detail of the blogger's day? Or worse still, about their inner confusion at the state of humanity, and how they should go about the pursuit of that ever-elusive happiness. You know, I am as boring as the next guy in what I do every day- I wake up, I drink my coffee, I go to work and probably socialize less at the workplace than I should. I also am just as confused as any angsty blog super star about what I ought to do with my life. However, I look in the mirror every day, remember I'm not Angelina Jolie or Oprah, and therefore can not expect housewives or even bored blog readers out there to care about my new brand of cornflakes. That is why I spend my hard earned money on therapy and keep a personal (as in nonelectronic) journal.

Venue #2: the staff meeting. I know we are all longing for a closer sense of connection in this big bad world, especially in New York City. However, that does not mean that staff meetings should become a free for all of updates on everyone's family and musings on what the most appropriate way to celebrate the next big holiday in the office should be. This type of desperate, albeit inappropriate, social "cramming" had been a frequent frustration of mine in my last two jobs, but reached new heights recently, I am happy to report. In order to illustrate the complexity of a decision we are now faced with in the office, a colleague compared it to the same dilemma his teenage daughter faces in deciding whether or not she will get the HPV vaccine before all the evidence is in. I get it, really, I do....but was the anecdote really necessary, for the love of God? Remember people: less is more. Sometimes. Really.

I could go on, but I think I have made my point. In the age of oversharing, maybe it would be healthy for us all to keep our need to spill in check with some good old capitalist values. Keep your eye on the prize. Be efficient. Don't waste your words on ears that were not even remotely curious to hear them. Little blogging Billy out in Iowa doesn't give a rat's ass about your Shepherd's pie, I promise.