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Meaningless conversations

abby normal said:
I suspect supertasters have in common the intolerance of the powerful flavor of olives.
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Actually, I have such an acute taste that I can usually identify most of the spices used in preparing a typical meal. My sense of smell is similarly keen. However, I've not found that this necessarily causes me to dislike the things I taste/smell simply b/c they are strong.

Granted, my baby sister has heightened taste/smell, and she hates strong-tasting food or strong smells. I actually seem to have stronger senses than her (no one ever has to tell me when dinner is ready - I smell it coming from a floor away), yet I don't mind a smell or taste simply b/c it is strong. There are smells/tastes I dislike, of course, but not just because I experience them in a stronger way. I just don't like them. Crap smells like crap. I'm the first to know when the dog farts. This remains as unpleasant for me as it would anyone.

Yet, I love the smell of my wife's perfume.
 
It makes sense that simple conversation is a way of connecting, I'm just terrible at it. I need a cliff notes on how small talk works. If someone says to me..... nice day isn't it. I say YEah with a big smile. Then they stare at me and I start to think I'm doing this wrong because they haven't responded back, instead there looking at me like I'm supposed to say something else. So I say I hear the rest of the week is supposed to be really nice too! Then they give me a look and this is where I usually lose them. However if there's a topic I like at hand, I won't stop talking. So I get the olive oil thing. It seems like other people want to small talk with me more but they don't want me to talk at all about olive oil. I'm just using olive oil as a general reference.
 
Wooaspie said:
It makes sense that simple conversation is a way of connecting, I'm just terrible at it. I need a cliff notes on how small talk works. If someone says to me..... nice day isn't it. I say YEah with a big smile. Then they stare at me and I start to think I'm doing this wrong because they haven't responded back, instead there looking at me like I'm supposed to say something else. So I say I hear the rest of the week is supposed to be really nice too! Then they give me a look and this is where I usually lose them. However if there's a topic I like at hand, I won't stop talking. So I get the olive oil thing. It seems like other people want to small talk with me more but they don't want me to talk at all about olive oil. I'm just using olive oil as a general reference.
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Olives and olive oil are awesome topics. First, let me tell you how the US Dept of Agriculture does not really do a good job of regulating what gets labelled "extra virgin." You could be buying oil that has been around the block a few times, if you know what I mean... In all seriousness, much of the oil marketed and sold in the US as "extra virgin" did not come from the first pressing (which is what that means). Check it out here.

Now, I will stop there, b/c most people shop for olive oil, making what I just wrote "small talk." (I think.). However, more occult topics like smoke points and the actual significance of colour in olive oil, etc. seem to be where I depart from small talk into the obsessive.
 
Also, just one more thing... I swear.

People seem to think "extra virgin" is better, and when I ask, they often say because it is lighter (whether in flavor, calories, or colour I am not sure - this is what people say to me IRL). However, EV olive oil should have more olive flavor than other grades originating presuming the type, ripeness, and geographic location of harvest are all constants. In other words, if you want more oil less olive, then you're generally better off buying the cheap stuff anyway. It's better for frying too.

I think all that applies to most people as well, so I feel like any bit of the foregoing was "small talk," and yet somehow I feel like the volume of what I posted might be bordering on obsessive?
 
I am now resisting the urge to tell you all about an olive/anitpasto bar at the specialty food store.

It's a wonder our threads on this site stay on topic as often as they do, really.
 
Well said! Now I know a whole lot more about olive oil. And am a little worried the olive oil I'm using might have been around the block a few times!
 
Until the US joins the IOC (International olive council), what would be the point? Unless, of course, you live outside the US.

Some imports were labelled in IOC countiries, though. Though, really, if the oil doesn't have an olive or fruity flavor, then it probably isn't EV regardless of what you paid for it.
 
icesyckel said:
Until the US joins the IOC (International olive council), what would be the point? Unless, of course, you live outside the US.

Some imports were labelled in IOC countiries, though. Though, really, if the oil doesn't have an olive or fruity flavor, then it probably isn't EV regardless of what you paid for it.
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What? There's an International Olive Council? :confused:
 
Perhaps I am a closet NT. I love talking to people about things. Small talk is fine by me. I think my major challenge was always this: I was quite confident that I was a charming and witty conversationalist and could go into rather great detail on a wide range of topics. Turns out that this bores and annoys a lot of people.

Once I realized this (from direct feedback and some negative consequences) I tend not to engage in chit chat uninvited. So I have learned not to initiate and to keep things minimal until they clearly show interest in a topic, and still have to keep check on whether they are tired of listening and just being polite, or are still interested.

Also, I've learned that it's not always necessary to be clever and charming. Sometimes it is much more important to allow others to express their cleverness and charm.

I really don't mind other people's small talk. There's usually something interesting to learn from it, and especially with people you work with or are around every day, it's like a TV series where each episode stands alone, but there are sometimes plot elements that play out over long times. They'll mention a trip, or something their family is doing, or plans for the weekend. The next week, you might then ask how that weekend activity went for them. Shows that you both listened, and actually care about them.

It's kind of like reading the daily comic pages of a newspaper. Quick, light snippets that may or may not be amusing, but aren't necessarily in depth. Sometimes it opens up opportunities for more in depth discussions (akin to deciding to read an actual article in the newspaper) and if you eventually find yourself having these fairly often, can expand into a deeper friendship (now it's a novel, extending my analogy further).

Not every conversation needs to be deep, intensely meaningful explorations of important topics.
 
icesyckel said:
Olives and olive oil are awesome topics. First, let me tell you how the US Dept of Agriculture does not really do a good job of regulating what gets labelled "extra virgin." You could be buying oil that has been around the block a few times, if you know what I mean... In all seriousness, much of the oil marketed and sold in the US as "extra virgin" did not come from the first pressing (which is what that means). Check it out here.

Now, I will stop there, b/c most people shop for olive oil, making what I just wrote "small talk." (I think.). However, more occult topics like smoke points and the actual significance of colour in olive oil, etc. seem to be where I depart from small talk into the obsessive.
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Which is why it's a good idea to buy US olive oil, Italian oils are sometimes diluted with cheaper oils and labeled as Extra Virgin.
 
I'm one of those where it depends on my mood what conversation I want. Deep, in depth, and/or provoking conversations can be emotionally exhausting. Small talk and supposedly meaningless conversations are my communicative way to lay around on the proverbial couch and chill until I want to do something more rigorous. Until I hit those moods where I'm back to studying people or mundane things, then small talk is as exhausting the meaningful conversations because I turn it into a meaningful conversation.
 
Well, I can understand why they'd do it - just not why it's preferred. People can get to know each other a little better and be more certain about their environment through casual conversations. I'm just not tired out by difficult or detailed conversations the way others seem to be, I guess, so there's no reason for me to prefer simplicity.

The more I think or talk about something I like, the better I feel and the more excited I get. No exceptions unless it's so late that my brain is about to collapse or I've spent hours on something in mathematics.
 
It is making sense to me now why there is an olive oil tasting shop in the downtown area of my little suburb. That seemed like the most useless, niche store to me when it opened but I also had no idea how much there was to know about olive oil.
 
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