Party Conversation

Have you noticed that party conversation has changed these days? I usually like to mingle with as many people as possible at parties, listening and participating in the various conversations. Once you get beyond the family and kids portion of the conversation, socioeconomic trends become apparent – if you are listening.

Over the last several months, I have had the chance to attend 6 or 7 parties with a very broad mix of people. These events went beyond the typical 4 or 5 couples that we consider our “group” and provided an interesting look into what is happening with a small sampling of the population.

Several years ago, the party topics were home prices and equity, ambitious home remodeling projects, stocks that should be hot or cold, big vacations that had been taken or were being planned, retirement accounts that were doing well, and friends that somehow stumbled on the “next big thing” and were making a killing. Politics always seemed to play a part somehow, but the general trend was usually prosperity.

Recently this trend has shifted. I still hear some of the same topics – with a negative slant – but the main topics have changed. Now the conversations are about getting together with friends more often, the new garden being planted and the varieties of vegetables being grown, the benefits of a compost pile, the job that is still paying the bills but the new business idea that is percolating (if financing ever comes around), or the vacation deals that are out there if you were to take a vacation.

Big to small, excess to conservative, broad to narrow – all positive shifts towards adapting to the current economic reality.

I have always found it fascinating how these conversational topics provide a barometer into the true feelings of the participants. It is important to understand that surface conversation – while often fascinating – is not the real barometric indicator. What the conversation says in a “between the lines” view provides the true barometer of their lives, emotions, and concerns.

Interpretation can go either way. Not only does the barometer provide an interesting view into the true feelings of others – but the interpretation itself often shows the true feelings of the listener. Too eccentric for most perhaps, but I find it interesting.

Think about it and enjoy!