We are meeting a lot of new people here, and we commonly ask, and sometimes are asked, questions such as, What do you do?  While reading a biography of Patrick O’Brian, I realized that personal questions are considered rude by some people. Not too many, in this age of sharing nude selfies and tweeting scathing retorts, but a few.

I had to review some scenes from novels set in the nineteenth century to remind myself of how question-free conversations start. One commonly comments on a shared experience:  I love the band tonight! I lived in Boston until recently, and the mandolin player reminds me of someone I knew there. While that comment invites the followup question, Why did you move?, a nineteenth-century conversationalist might reply, I’m glad you found some music you enjoy here, because you may be missing the winter weather.

Impersonal questions are not rude, but are unnecessary. Examples such as Can you give me directions to Manderley? How was your flight? and Did you see the stationmaster I mentioned, the one with the fabulous mustache? could also be rephrased as, I trust I am heading toward Manderley; I hope your flight was uneventful;. and The stationmaster there is quite a colorful character. To not require answers of one’s conversational partners seems to be a form of respect. It could make the relationship more relaxed, allowing each person to reveal information, or not.

Having a conversation without questions seems wittier, and feels like a game to me. I am looking forward to playing it.

My docent training will cover in depth the communication form Interpretation, which I recognize, though I did not realize it was a subject of academic study, with its own National Association. Intepretation, as you  may well know, is a way of conveying information that is audience-based. It is not teaching; curriculum-driven learning cannot be be conveyed via interpretation. It’s also not entertainment, and while it is flexible, there are goals. We will be learning how to convey scientifically sound information to non-captive audiences in encounters ranging from moments to complete presentations, in ways that are appropriate for the audience’s mood, mindset, and background. Most intriguingly, this involves varying the content as well as the communication method. I feel interpretation could be also useful in more personal interactions, particularly for conversations in which one person is agitated, or some difficult news must be conveyed.

Both of these epiphanies happened yesterday, five days after Epiphany. Today I am a little tongue-tied, overanalyzing my speech.