Routine

Repetition, routine, ... does strange things with the human being... People who are accustomed to asking things from other people, will always close a conversation with something like: "okay? thanks". Even if it was you who asked the question in the first place!! So you can go into their office, asking a question. They will help you to the best of their capabilities (if you're lucky), and when you leave: "okay? thanks", as to say: "so you're taking care of this, subordinate?". Weird stuff...

Another short example... people tend to have a fixed way of ending a telephone call. It usually goes something like this: "yes (break) okay (break) bye". This is a very short example, and is very likely to be used by different people. The fun really starts when both telephone-call-participants start with the same closing sentence at the same time, leaving them both confused when hanging up the phone. Because I noticed that the short break in between words will often be the same length every time, with other people as well. Like there are rules or something.

You never caught yourself, while starting a private phone call, saying: "Hi, this is (insert name) from (insert company name)"? Well I did...

Album I was listening to while writing this entry: Sufjan Stevens - Come on! Feel the Illinoise!