REALLY Getting To Know Someone or TMI?
One of my ‘Facebook friends,’ a co-worker, offered an interesting challenge on her page recently: “ask me anything, one time only, any question about anything, and I’ll answer it.”
I decided to pose the same challenge on my page. Only two friends responded, both have been friends for more than 25 years and both hinted at a question but didn’t actually ask one. I’m not sure what to make of that.
I was totally serious about answering any question and was disappointed by the lack of response, but it occurred to me that if given the opportunity to ask them or anyone else any question, I’m not sure I’d do it either. And what would I ask?
In my twenties, I would ask anyone anything and I probably asked inappropriate questions. Funny thing is: I usually got answers. My intense curiosity about the littlest details of people’s lives, thoughts and dreams remains but my sensitivity about satisfying that curiosity has increased to the point that I now ask fewer questions.
There is such a thing as TMI – too much information - but deep down inside, I’m not sure where the line is. I have no real limit on what I want to know about other people, but I might have a limit on what I’ll reveal about me. I am often an open book, but there are aspects of my personality and thinking that even my closest friends have never seen. I think that means I know where my line is. So I wonder what I would have said if someone had actually asked me a sensitive question that crossed that line.
I decided to pose the same challenge on my page. Only two friends responded, both have been friends for more than 25 years and both hinted at a question but didn’t actually ask one. I’m not sure what to make of that.
I was totally serious about answering any question and was disappointed by the lack of response, but it occurred to me that if given the opportunity to ask them or anyone else any question, I’m not sure I’d do it either. And what would I ask?
In my twenties, I would ask anyone anything and I probably asked inappropriate questions. Funny thing is: I usually got answers. My intense curiosity about the littlest details of people’s lives, thoughts and dreams remains but my sensitivity about satisfying that curiosity has increased to the point that I now ask fewer questions.
There is such a thing as TMI – too much information - but deep down inside, I’m not sure where the line is. I have no real limit on what I want to know about other people, but I might have a limit on what I’ll reveal about me. I am often an open book, but there are aspects of my personality and thinking that even my closest friends have never seen. I think that means I know where my line is. So I wonder what I would have said if someone had actually asked me a sensitive question that crossed that line.
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