Driving For A Living

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m1985
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Driving For A Living

Post by m1985 »

Hi, This is my first post.

I do a driving job for a living, because I actually like driving, which I know is quite uncommon from what I've read on here before for people with dyspraxia, without going into the type of job that I do, I can be quiet around people I don't know, but with people I do know I can talk to them about pretty much anything, sometimes it is difficult to stop me talking sometimes, I even interrupt people who I work with now and again, which I believe is a common trait for someone with dyspraxia, does anyone have any advice of how I could start talking to people who I don't know? I remember my boss telling me when I first started doing the job that I'm doing to talk about the weather, but if I did that every time I'd get fed up with keep asking the same question and getting the same answer.
Tom fod
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Re: Driving For A Living

Post by Tom fod »

The old polite small talk chestnut. Some people are equally unsure so we British can always find something to say about the weather. We generally aren't the type to gossip about others, which is often a big water cooler topic in many workplaces

" Do you know her from accounts? The cleaner caught her under the MDs desk on her knees, while he was telling the wife what we wanted for dinner! I reckon it will have arsenic in it."

As a bloke If you follow football that can work, as can car talk (leaves me out of my depth though). If someone has a band T shirt on or is listening to music you share an interest in, that can be an opener. generally speaking I think we steer clear of religion or politics as if the person you open conversation with has strongly opposing views you may wish you hadn't said anything.

Sorry I can\t really offer more than that. Anyone else have any thoughts?
Tom
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With a foot full of bullets I tried to run faster but I just hobbled on to the next disaster.
(from Peter and the Test Tube Babies, Foot Full of Bullets)
allesandro
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Re: Driving For A Living

Post by allesandro »

I don't drive so I've taken many cabs in my lifetime. People usually talk about what's going on the city, what people are doing in the City, and what celebrities might be in town. This is usually safe conversation
m1985
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Re: Driving For A Living

Post by m1985 »

Thanks the replies, allesandro there's not much going on in Preston so I can't really talk about that and there are no celebrities are likely to be in town, unless your on about the London area and I'd rather not talk about London as I'm not a big fan, sorry if I upset anyone who is from London or lives in London and certainly don't want to talk about the stock exchange as that goes right over my head.
allesandro
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Re: Driving For A Living

Post by allesandro »

Sorry, my cab experiences have been in a big city, so quite often the drivers talk about the streets that are blocked off and the circuitous routes they are forced to take because of construction that is blocking the streets or because the police don't want drivers anywhere near the routes of VIP's who are in town.
One cab driver specialized in imitating the voices of famous celebrities, and he would sing one of the songs for which they are famous. It was really funny. Most of them just complain about the city, how bad the cops are, how bad traffic is, etc. Once while held up in traffic during a thunder storm, lightening struck the tree in front of my cab, and fell right on the cab in front of me. Fortunately no one was hurt. Oh, I forgot many of the drivers just talk about the weather, often comparing it to the weather we had the previous year.It seems to be good for about 20 minutes of conversation. Hope that helps
m1985
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Re: Driving For A Living

Post by m1985 »

As it's that time of year, my conversation now starts with "are you ready for Christmas?" followed up by something about the weather, then sometimes mentioning if the person thinks "it will be a white Christmas," this can sometimes be followed by me saying "the last it snowed properly in Preston in 2009, I only remember that as it was my Gran's funeral on Christmas Eve, me and my mum thought it was best to get it out of the way before Christmas."
Tom fod
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Re: Driving For A Living

Post by Tom fod »

Brexit is a topic best avoided, but I like to live dangerously!

www.dyspraxicadults.org.uk/forums/viewt ... 8&start=15
Tom
Moderator/Administrator

With a foot full of bullets I tried to run faster but I just hobbled on to the next disaster.
(from Peter and the Test Tube Babies, Foot Full of Bullets)
james92
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Re: Driving For A Living

Post by james92 »

I worked in hospitality and ran my own pub so completely understand how difficult it can be to start small talk. I normally ask people how they are, move onto the weather and then the local area. Best thing to remember is 9 out of 10 people dislike small talk.

Hopefully after you have had some practice on a couple of occasions you may get into a routine of how you approach it.
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