Anyone else think talking to (some) people just feels like a cutscene with quick-time events you have to pass in order to maintain your cover as a polite, socially interested human being in order to progress to the more actually interesting parts of your day?
No, just me?
Wow. Crazy.
Yeah, pretending to care about a conversation is quite an important skill depending on the person and situation you’re having said conversation with, That and making believable excuses to get the hell outta there!
It’s me at work. Totally.
I am working in IT support. I know that feeling all to well. It occurs to me every time when we had a minor issue that already has been resolved but the user apparently has planned a sequence of sentences they want to say. It does not matter if the problem does not exist anymore, all that matters is that i then have to stand there and listen, nod and smile. While that pre planned script is rolling. Interrupting it will trigger a redo, just like when you accidentally click on “tell me more” in mass effect and the skip… Read more »
It’s worse in the UK. At the start of every call there is a long string of “pleasantries” before they’ll actually tell you the problem they’re having, and then at the end of the call there is a similarly tedious string of thanks and farewells.
And yeah, there’s also that bit where you know exactly what the problem is and how to fix it but they insist on going through the long and boring story about how the User discovered the problem and the effect it had and then is having on the business.
But no, definitely not bitter xD
I knew it! I am not the only one! YES! The story!
I work in an office with an open door policy, what i find the worst is that i have things i need to do, they see that i am concentrating on something. Then there is the knock, the obnoxious knock on the door, because as a gamer i totally didn’t see them standing there from the corner of my eyes, trying to finish whatever it is i am doing.
And then “do you have 2 minutes?”
IT IS NEVER 2 MINUTES!!! EVER!!!
P.s. Still not bitter
or the dreaded “While I’ve got you here…”
Your IT brothers and sisters know your pain. My favorite is when they don’t tell you things because “they don’t want to bother you because you’re very busy” and then three weeks later, you’re in a staff meeting and they complain they’ve been having a problem with that thing for weeks. The boss then looks at you with a raised eyebrow as to why someone has been having an issue for that long that you haven’t addressed. And this is after 5 years of telling people to not do that and I’m not that busy because fixing those problems is… Read more »
Get an Egg timer, set it to two minutes, when it goes off, say “Welp, times up, glad we had this talk, goodbye!”
Just having the knowledge that there are others like me, helps me psyche.
Thank you guys, i have now hope again.
I worked in IT support for a couple of decades. Assuming we’re talking about site management (you’re the IT bod) rather than outsourced service desk then you can find other ways. Obviously there needs to be some sort of crisis option. My preference was find someone sensible who is in a fixed location (office manager, receptionist etc) who is allowed to decide to interrupt you if something needing fixing RIGHT NOW, otherwise tell people to put it in an email. For the niggling issues, having a regular time when you have clinic hours in each department so people can tell… Read more »
Trust me, I’ve done both ends and on one hand it’s some people well too prepared to be “fast talked” into something and on the other end it’s people who are brand new hires sticking to the script far too much/or are one strike away from being fired for going off script.
It took *five months* for me to stop answering phone calls with “Hello, my name is , how can I help you”?
Hell for a while I called people and had to bite back the script.
After working in a call center for seven years and now working in an IT department where I mostly call out,I had to stop myself from saying “thanks for calling” at the end of every call for a good while. “Thanks for … your time (???), have a good day.” I called them because they had an issue. They should be thanking me for my time. But anyway, thanks for calling!
I got so used to replying with ‘Thanks, you too’ in retail that I once went to the movies and reflexively said ‘Thanks, you too’ in response to ‘Enjoy the show!’…
Man, I work a call center for vision insurance. Yanno how Random Battles worked in old JRPGs? Imagine that but instead of fighting a firebreathing dragon you’re dealing with someone’s gran who wants you to slowly and patiently read off a list of providers to her but doesn’t want that list sent to her because “I ain’t got no email or ‘puter” even though I told her three times I can send it by snail mail too!
Once you stop pretending these kind of events quickly stop occurring.
It’s a win-win.
Yeah, but then you get a notification that “[Coworker] will remember this.”
Then you’re just waiting for it to bite you in the butt later…
Then you learn to stop relying on people for anything. Expect them to be selfish, greedy clowns with a penchant for lying and petty vendettas, and they’ll never disappoint you.
I run a repair bench in a computer store. Pretending to give a shit about what 95% of people have to say is part of the job description. I really do treat much of it like a quick-time event and reply with one of a handful of applicable generic replies. Fill out the form and go away, I don’t need the extended backstory. My job involves fixing things you don’t understand using methods you don’t understand. Let’s not complicate this by pretending you know what I’m doing any more than I give a shit about what you think you’re going… Read more »
One of my friends often described my social conversation behavior as, paraphrasing, “repeatedly smashing the A button to get my chance to talk about what I want to talk about, while another conversation is happening, while not paying attention to the conversation that is actually occurring.” ?♂️
Quite a polite way of saying you’re so focused on yourself you decide to completely disregard others just to gain some limelight in the crowd. In an annoying way, to top that.
Better than my conversation style of “Smash keyboard immediately so that everyone stops talking”. It makes every conflict a flip of a coin. Either I get my way or we cease contact with each other. In either case, conflict resolved and I go about my day.
You ever get stuck in a conversation with someone, and you are too polite to tell them to go away, but it is very clear they will talk forever. And your only thought is, this is how I’m going to die, because I’m going to be here forever.
Tim, please, I encourage you to be honest with those annoying dip…I mean people.
Make the lives of both parties easier. Not everyone has to like you and vice versa.
If not that a simple ‘get to the point’ gets the job done.
*Mashes A/X*
Me: Wait, what?
Them: Oh, i’ll start over!
Me: Shit.
Press “X” to daydream during this conversation
I work Security, so yes. All the time.
“You” and that other guy in the strip kinda look like aged versions of Ethan and Lucas. XD
Wish it would work on online comics as well.
Need that skip button.
(Joking…ha ha.)
Yeah, I find myself at the opposite end of the spectrum most days. I work in a warehouse for a small medical supply company. Nobody really comes down to talk to me, unless they really need something, and most of my conversations are either via email or our private chat server. So, I’m like the guy who goes up to every single NPC in town and just opens the dialog window. I try not to be the guy above though! It’s funny, I start conversations, but knowing how busy people are, I’m also the one who tries to duck out… Read more »
Every Day….
That or a mute button.
I think this is a universal problem. I work IT the one that is most annoying is when they spend 5 minutes telling you the whole story of their problem. You ask 1 simple yes or no question and they retell the whole story without answering the question.
“I mean, didn’t you notice on the plane when you started talking, eventually I started reading the vomit bag? Didn’t that give you some sort of clue, like hey, maybe this guy is not enjoying it? You know, everything is not an anecdote. You have to discriminate. You choose things that, that are funny or mildly amusing or interesting. You’re a miracle. Your stories have none of that! They’re not even amusing accidentally. Honey, I’d like you to meet Del Griffith. He’s got some amusing anecdotes for ya. Oh, and here’s a gun so you can blow your brains out.… Read more »
99% of all human interactions are annoying
your life must be sad seriously
You are interacting with me, YOU are annoying
Wait, what? You mean, everyone isn’t just loving every second I blather on about pointless crap?
Well, darn, better start over, I guess. You see, blah, blah, blah…
I think this is Tim’s way of saying he’s not interested in reading our comments today.
you’re not alone on this one…there are some seriously boring people in the world and i often catch myself zoning out and leaving awkward silences in exactly the same way when they talk. i don’t even know why as otherwise i do actually get on reasonably well with these people.
This is ADHD
Working retail, you learn to put up with people telling you things you don’t want/need to know, so I completely get you. On the other hand, I sometimes do it to other people, usually when I geek out over something I’m *way* more interested in than they are…
Deadpool’s take on skipping conversations:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYP1MlDGfUE
the game looks funnier that the movie
There are several single words that can keep someone going with a story you haven’t heard a single word of. “yeah”, “nice”, damn” and occasionally “no” are acceptable responses when you hear a pause that can stop them from repeating the entire story.
I just wish some life had a “Press X to skip” option.
They exist. Fighting fire with thermite can work. “Oh yeah, that reminds me of this medical problem I had, man, I had to mop up for a while afterwards… oh, but I don’t want to keep you, if you have something to do.”
Or… You can just walk away from people.
“Hey, I’m trying to talk to you!”
“Yes. Yes, you are. Bye.”
I imagine this is what happens when some people talk to me. https://youtu.be/LKCi0gDF_d8?t=20
I tend to get more of the type where someone starts talking to me while I’m working on something. I’ve had the master the art of giving meaningful sounding replies with only a fraction of my attention. I do catch all of the conversation but it does not always proccess till I have a break in whatever I’m focusing on. On the bright side I tend to be mobile alot while working so I have a ready made excuse to beg pardon and as I have stuff to finish. They are free to keep the conversation going if they want… Read more »
As a Midwesterner, my favorite generic placeholder dialogue for when I wasn’t listening is:
“What can ya do?”
However, I also favor: “That’s how it goes” and “I hear ya.”
I’ve gotten far in life on the backs of those noncommittal phrases.
I work in a pharmacy. Some of my customers are either not all there or starved for interaction. Just today, I had some work I had to do and some old guy was talking to me about something I had nothing to do with, and I was just waiting for him to lose steam and sit down and wait for his meds. It didn’t happen. It took another person coming to wait in line behind him for the guy to stop yakking, and then he started talking to the person he allowed to be helped by me. It literally felt… Read more »
I think this only applies to those who don’t simply shoot/slash/hack/punch first and loot the bodies for the quest items later 😀
Wow thats crazy!
Under this topic you guys now all share your “at my job it always goes blablabla…”
You do realize that this comic is all about you right?
If you guys are really better then “them”, then why the hell do you work at a helpdesk/call center in the first place?
Did your classmates drag down your RL ELO or something? Or do you (just maybe) belong exactly where you are…
RL ELO? Real Life Electric Light Orchestra? Sounds like a great cover band.
I actually thought that the joke here was different – that you were holding triangle to skip dialogue and the NPC was reacting emotionally to being ignored, causing you to listen to the rest of it.
I like both jokes.
At the risk of sounding like a guy who can’t tell fantasy from reality, I treat mundane events like a video game. Like back at my old job, I was a forklift operator to move containers from point A to point B (Yes, forklifts, but trust me…not as fun as it sounds). I made it in my head like the more accurate I do my job, the more points I got. The levers and driving were like my game controller. I even had background music in the back of my head. I questioned my own sanity at times. Now I… Read more »
Oops Double Post, sorry.
No worries, it’s just a redshirt. Will die soon, anyway. 😉
Unless it’s my boss at work, then I pretty much don’t bother pretending to care about a conversation or knowing what I’m talking about.
This brings to mind a song. “Just walk away. Make it easy on yourself.” Sound advice, I use it often. There’s a guy just like this who guards the self checkout during my breaks. I have 15 minutes from the moment I step away from my duties and He. Will. Not. Shut. Up. so I walk away. I’ve become good at ignoring people to the point that they worry I’ve gone deaf.
I go right for the Renegade interrupt.
“Sorry, chief, but some people have to do actual work around here. I’m one of them”
“if I have to stand here and listen to you regale me to one more story about counterstrike, Rob, I’m going to jam burning chopsticks into my ears. The resulting deafness will be a massive improvement”
“listen…let me give you some life advice. Hear that? That’s no one caring. No. One. Cares.”
There’s a lot of single people here…
You mean free? Yes. Free to GTFO whenever I please. Free to watch that movie Thursday night, free to eat steak when I have the urge. Free to go on vacation and not have to save extra for 2 or more people. Companionship is a highly overrated phenomenon.
This used to be me…
But as I get older, I feel that I’m the one people are pressing skip on when I’m talking.
It’s ok, there are still people like me who like to listen!
That’s pretty much what my ADHD is like. Its about as easy to control as being right or left handed. It’s how you’re built.
That is LITERALLY retail life. After almost 4 years at the same job in the same position (service desk at a grocery store), I could write out my script. I have a few to a handful of sentences or phrases for each job-related topic and I skip the unnecessary chit-chat where I can. For instance, I skip right on past all of that “Hi, how are you?” nonsense. I greet people with “[Hi/hello/howdy]! What’cha need?” or “What can I do for ya’?” To which people usually respond “Good, you?” or “I’m fine” because they’re clearly not actually listening.
It’s the skill I’ve put all my skill points into. Saved me more than once