Posted by Jen Star on June 25, 2005, at 18:51:21
In reply to Pretending to be stupid, posted by Deneb on June 24, 2005, at 23:18:35
I've actually done this too, although not here on Babble. I don't know why; maybe I too want the other person to feel "smart" and "learned" and just act the wide-eyed eager fool, drinking it all in.
Here's an example: I was working out at the gym. The woman on the treadmill next to me obviously thought I must have looked stupid about health-related matters (OK, yes, I'm out of shape NOW, but I used to be a distance runner and sprinter in high school!)
She started talking, then lecturing/elocuting about health and fitness and diet. She said, "There's a thing called the Glycic [sic] Indix [sic] that tells you, like, how much sugar are in things. You can see whether foods are going to cause diabetes or not."
Instead of saying, "You must mean the GLYCEMIC INDEX" I just said, "Oh, really? That sounds interesting!" and let her babble away.
I don't know why I didn't correct her. I actually didn't think SHE needed to feel smart. Maybe I just knew that she and I would never, ever, ever be friends, and that it wasn't worth my time & effort to even correct her? Maybe it was actually an INSULT on my part NOT to correct her, sort of saying that it wasn't even worth my time to correct her?
But other times I HAVE let kindly elderly ladies or shy people tell me something I already knew (maybe better than they did), and thanked them politely, and that was it.
Maybe I want to not seem TOO smart or too "smarty-pants Know it all" and therefore don't sometimes speak up even when I know something? Is this a woman thing or a "me" thing?
It's interesting...
JenStar
poster:Jen Star
thread:518445
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20050624/msgs/518830.html