Parallel Conversations

Sometimes it's amusing to observe how parallel conversations occur. It usually happens when a bunch of polite but uninterested people try to talk about stuff. I observe that sometimes when my parents talk to one another, and when they're talking to some neighbours they don't really like.

What effectively happens is that they keep acknowledging what the other says, what with the regular nods and all that, but they have absorbed absolutely nothing from the conversation afterwards. It could be a repeat of the exact phenomenon when I asked them what they talked about, and then they tell me that they totally forgot.

Perhaps the most amusing anecdote would be yesterday when dad tried to order beer. He told the serving wench that he wanted a bottle of beer. Mom figured that it was too much, so she wanted a can. He insisted on a bottle. Fair enough. The wench kindly told him that they didn't have cans. They only had bottles. He said he wanted only a bottle. She said they had bottles, but no cans, so that would be fine. He said again that he wanted only a bottle. She repeated that they had bottles, but no cans. At that, he just brushed her off and canceled the order. Ah, the amusement of the day.