Claire Bad At Conversation

How are we gonna end this sucker? I think the central conflict will be rewritten, most of the good stuff is atmospheric. The plot will probably be in the direction of the robot voice command idea.

Claire was bad at talking to people. It was surprising to others. She was young and stylish, with features that made her look approachable and kind. And she was. But she was not good at conversation.

She found that people always asked her questions like “what’s new”, questions which, although they technically had meaning, she never seemed to find any meaningful answer ready for them. She was easy to get to know, but hard to get close to. Whether this was her fault, or the fault of growing up without anyone to talk to, or the fault of strangers who for the most part made incredibly boring questions.

What’s new, as far as she could tell, was the most useless question you could possibly ask someone.

Ask a teen, and they’ll tell you about how they’ve reinvented themselves this week. Ask an old man, and you will just depress him. Nothing is new, and that might be okay. Ask a parent of young children and they will start a conversation about poop.

Growing up, there were only older people to talk to. Occasionally she was around other children. But it never lasted long.

Though Claire looked very cheery with her yellow striped socks and bow in her hair, and as a waitress she had an idea how to play the part when necessary. In reality, she wasn’t exactly unhappy, but she was serious. So much so that people felt tricked when they tried to start a conversation. They’d make a dumb joke then feel slighted when she didn’t laugh.

This made some people think Claire was a snob. She wasn’t. Well, it was a mixture of social anxiety and snobbery, which actually worked hand in hand to produce similar outward results.