Unsent Letters.

small talk.

I hate small talk.

I don't hate it because I hate people. It's because I hate the barrier it creates between people.

Unfortunately, our culture has deemed small talk a social necessity. Wikipedia even went so far as to describe it as a "social lubricant", which makes it sound a whole lot more fun than it actually is.

Small talk is meant to be light and fun. It flees from depth and meaning. Personal questions are considered inappropriate. Likewise, any emotion besides happy or neutral is discouraged. Consequently, authenticity dies on the vine.

The truth is that small talk allows two people to have an entire conversation without really getting to know each other.

Instead of being light and fun, the conversation is flat and boring. It is like a game of chess where both players always know each other's next move. It is a predictable exchange with predictable results.

So tell me about your deepest fears. Tell me why you wake up at 3 a.m. with horrible nightmares. Tell me about your mum's eyes and your dad's laugh, because I don't care about the weather and you don't care about how my job is going.