Formal talk costs souls

You can’t help but earwig on people’s conversations on the train. Especially when they’re happening only a yard or two away. Usually they’re not worth passing on, but I’ll make an exception.

A man was telling the woman opposite how his son had been kicked out of school. The school had copped out of dealing with the boy’s behavioural problems, and the local authority was following suit by fudging the issue of what to do next. All this told in measured, but still emotional, language.

Then she chipped in. It was clear from the off that she was an Education Professional. ‘They’re required to make reasonable adjustments,’ she said. ‘With their expertise you would hope they have encountered many circumstances…’ she added. ‘The way teaching assistants are being deployed has been subject to a great deal of research,’ she mused.

So, an Education Professional only capable of speaking in dry, institutional language. And not putting it through her own humanity filter for the sake of her hapless friend.

Dangerous stuff, formal language. Work near it for long enough and eventually it will take your soul.