chatty

I was proofreading tomorrow's "Dear Abby" column, and one of the letters is from a woman who hates to get her hair done at salons because she detests small talk.

I have the opposite feeling (and problem).

And maybe it's just a Laramie thing.

But I hate getting my hair (nails, etc.) done because the people don't DO small talk, and by the time I get in for one of those services, I'm somewhat starved for face-to-face conversation with someone other than a coworker.

Pathetic, I know.

But still. It's disheartening to have someone combing and whacking your hair or scrubbing and massaging your feet without the slightest bit of conversation. I usually have to initiate it, and I'm rather bad at initiating conversation ... so bad that I start with something completely inane, like the weather, or whether they're from Laramie. And I usually get a fraction of a second's worth of a withering look, a roll of the eyes, before they answer and indulge this socially starved creature taking up space in their salon. Or, in the case of the nail place, they pretend that they don't speak English.