If I told you my answer was “It was great to be off work for a while.” would you be able to supply the question? No, you didn’t stumble upon a Jeopardy training or application site.  You stumbled upon my blog.

I was asked (and I probably asked it to other as well) numerous times today, “how was your holiday?” Probably you were, or will be in the same situation yourself.  You don’t want to be rude, but you’re probably wondering why people were asking you this question.  They already know the answer.

In fact, as a short aside, one of my coworkers basically thought the same thing out loud after asking me that questions. She ended it with, “stupid question, right?  No one is going to answer that they had a horrible time and couldn’t wait to get back to work.”

(Next year, that is precisely what I will do.)

I don’t think it’s a stupid question. I think of it as an all too human question.  We are searching for a way to connect with one another and this is just another way of doing it.  It is not different than talking about the weather.  “What did you think of that rainstorm last night?”  It is no different that talking about a sports match that we both saw.  It is no different that talking about what someone was wearing or not wearing on the most recent award show.

I can’t allow this question to be Today’s Perfect Moment because it really wasn’t. However, realizing that there is no need to get angry and completely lose it actually qualifies.

If you haven’t had your round of banal questions yet, take a deep breath and answer honestly with some detailed information rather than eye rolling and gasping for breath. Hopefully, you suddenly find yourself in an interesting conversation.