Shut-up! I Totally Know What You're Talking About!!

I was chatting late one night with my (freakin' hilarious!) cousin Allison. As we were spilling our guts to each other, I was suddenly aware of how much I interrupted her stories with, "That same thing happened to me!" or "I know exactly what you're talking about!"


I apologized to her for continually turning the conversation back to myself. I was blown away when she admitted that she does the exact same thing! I've known for years that we were twins seperated by aliens and placed in different wombs, but I never had any evidence until now. Case closed!


We agreed that we can't help but point out those things we have in common with people, even if it makes the exchange one-sided, and we always regret later that we've monopolized the discussion. Even being conscious of the problem and promising to do better, we fail in that moment to keep our lips zipped.


I've always been an open book.

I'll talk to you about how many pennies we have in the checkbook.
I'll tell you that I'm wearing second-hand underwear or that I just ate a raw chocolate cake mix for dinner.
I'll discuss in detail my stages of depression over the years, my spending habits and what I really think about my children.
I'll tell you when I last trimmed my nose hair and what a weirdo I was in high school.
I'll admit to you that I eat cupcakes and ice cream while watching The Biggest Loser purely out of spite.
There is nothing you can tell me that I haven't already experienced on some level... just try me. I will tell you all of this, and the best part is, you didn't even have to ask! In fact, you are privy to this information from the moment we first make eye contact.


I had a very open repartee with a few ladies the other night, and as I was driving home I could have slapped myself. Here I was (again) always pulling the chatter back to my own experiences. I don't do it because I want attention or spympathy, at least I don't consciously believe I do. There's just something about boiling people down to the lowest common denominator. When you expose those shared emotional experiences, you get to the meat of who you are - and you find out what other people are made of. I always thought that it's a sign of my own immaturity that I so desperately need to identify with people. Now I wonder if it isn't just part of transitioning into being a little bit older and a little bit wiser. What matters to other people matters to me, so I try as hard as I can to get it.



(c) 2009, Kelsey Robbins