GoKawiilEssay: 'The Value of Not Getting to the Point' by Ken Arneson
Writer Ken Arneson reflects on a 2015 personal essay describing a phone conversation with his college-freshman daughter, who insisted on talking about trivial topics before revealing what was really bothering her. He recounts realizing, after reading that small talk exists to relieve conversational pressure, that his own instinct to get straight to the point had previously left him unaware of this social function.