Having only previously exchanged words to establish a workable bathroom schedule, roommates Elise Riven and Diana Skarner were surprised and a little offended to find themselves talking in their room Thursday night—to each other.
“She had just finished passive-aggressively Skyping her long-distance boyfriend like she does every Thursday night. When I happened to walk in. I knew I had made a mistake the second I saw the light on and didn’t hear disappointed scolding, but it was too late to stop. All of the sudden we were making eye contact. And I couldn’t just stand there. So I said ‘Hi,’” comments Riven.
Before they knew it, Riven and Skarner had begrudgingly launched into an overlong, question-and-answer, back-and-forth, feeling-sharing banter session—or as some people colloquially refer to it—a conversation.
“How was your winter break?” inevitably led to remarks such as, “Thanks for taking out the trash the other day,” and, “Yeah, it was getting kind of smelly,” which gave rise to a slew of thoughtful questions. Highlights included, “Do you want to take out the trash today or should I?” and, “Would you like some of this leftover chili I made? It’s two days old but I think it’s still good.”
The whole ordeal left both girls visibly shaken.
“I don’t know what I could’ve done differently,” said an exasperated Skarner.
“I haven’t struggled to sustain a conversation like that since I first learned how to form sentences at age three,” added Riven.
