You know how you hate working with stupid people? Well, I hate talking with stupid people. Now, hold on a second, hear me out on this one.

One of my biggest pet peeves in the entire world is talking to stupid people...or at least people that sound like they're stupid. Sure maybe they can name all fifty state capitals, or recite the entirety of Pi from memory; maybe they really do have a higher than fifth-grade reading level. They just don't sound like it!

Seriously, think about it. You can know all this cool stuff, but if you can't communicate it to people like you actually know what you're talking about, who cares? I might add, you may look really amazing in your ensemble of choice for the day, but if your language doesn't match? You kind of look like you're trying too hard to be something you're not.

Talking to people like that almost physically makes me uncomfortable as my perception of their intelligence takes a nose-dive train wreck to the bottom of the ocean. I quite literally, cannot take them seriously.

One of my FAVORITE poems of all time is a free-verse piece by Taylor Mali appropriately named, "Totally, Like, Whatever." I'll let him do the talking for me.

We all did it. We talked a certain way, because it's how the "cool" kids talked. Or at least how the kids who THOUGHT they were "cool" talked. Don't get me wrong, I used to have this same problem all the time. In fact, all the way through middle school I inserted all these unnecessary, empty comparatives and filler words into my speech, which did nothing except fill the space in which I had nothing meaningful to say.
The tragedy? For many of us now, it's an unconscious habit!
I eventually came to a spot in my adolescence when I asked myself, "Why do I talk like this? What do I sound like? Does this even help me?"
It took awhile, and a lot of conscious effort, but I eventually climbed out of the funk I'd discovered myself in. It's quite freeing, really. When you realize that the only words coming out of your mouth are the ones that help carry the message you want to communicate, you feel empowered! Say what you believe and mean it! That my friend, IS cool.
Imagine, feeling strong and almost invincible simply by the way you talk! I might add, imagine how smart, and even, elegant you will sound to those around you.
So, in the words of Taylor Mali: I implore you, I entreat you, and I challenge you to speak with conviction!
Ta!
Jess