Share
I spent the weekend at the Screenwriter’s Expo at the LAX Marriot. This is a strange place to be three days before a looming writers’ strike, but no matter. Strikes end eventually, and when they do, life goes on. Anyway, I was privileged to hear a seminar by Richard Walker, guru of script and screen at UCLA.
He was a great speaker, but he caught my attention particularly when he said, “Let me share something with you… and notice, in California, we don’t say things or tell you things. We shaaaare.”
Everyone chuckled, but I was cringing. This is true. I’ve been so inundated with “sharing” that I had stopped noticing enough to complain. But I hate it. Folks here don’t seem to “tell” or “say” unless they are relating a story wherein they said something, or are making an emphatic “let me tell you” sort of statement.
Even more obnoxious is the language at the school where I work. Excuse me, I mean in my community of educators. They like to “share out.” This is teachers going society one better, and you can almost hear the superior sniff that accompanies it. In countless meetings, I’ve been informed that I am expected to discuss this issue or that with my fellow educators seated near me, and then we would turn and share out what we’ve discussed.
This phrase is generally accompanied by an open-handed (both hands) gesture reminiscent of a hostess behind a well-stocked buffet table announcing that dinner is served.
I am a contrarian at heart. Being told to share out even random thoughts makes me want to skulk in my classroom and hoard pencils. I hearby make this solemn vow to the universe: you will never hear me say that I’m going to “share something with you” unless I am being very sarcastic and the next word is going to start with an F.
