Please Don't Ask Me

The common insults

of innocuous interrogatories.

Are the burden of the polite

for the sake of politeness.

Truly polite people remember

things about you, your family,

your life and don’t quiz you

absently about the state of

your dead parents, (still dead)

that person you dated 15 years

ago (Moved on), if

you still live in that place

by the thing, (you don’t.)

The faux polite are a bane on

the genuine polite person.

The faux polite ruin small

talk, ruin morning coffee,

a nice Sunday walk, or

even the surprise twist ending

to a popular film.

We’re raised to be polite at the

sake of honesty and earnestness.

We’re told to be polite so we don’t

hurt someone’s feelings.

I understand. It’s one of the complications

of being a human being.

For the sake of St. Pete, let’s

try to remember that an innocuous

question might be a bigger issue

for the person you’re annoying and

it’s best to stick with a head nod, a

hello, or the simple, “How ya doin’?”,

followed by the ultra-casual lie, “Fine.”

And we can all go on our merry way.

And no one is better or worse off than if

you’d never run into each other at all.