What will you do...

Whenever anyone's relationship comes up, my boss always asks "What happens when you run out of things to talk about?"

I always kind of shrug my shoulders, because what do you say to that?

But occasionally I do try to formulate an answer, at least within my own head. Very recently, I think I figured it out.

Too often people think that having a lot in common, i.e. liking the same things, is a crucial aspect of being in a relationship. And, until recently, I think I agreed.

But I think I've refined the idea a bit. It's not liking the same things that matters as much as liking things, any things, for the same reasons. It's a minor point, but an important one, I think.

Liking the same thing, but for different reasons means you can only get so much discussion out of a certain topic. For example: if one Cubs fan likes going to the game to watch baseball and another likes going because they like getting wasted at Wrigley, their interest only converges on a very basic level. When the baseball fan wants to take baseball, the other person won't be interested. And when the drinker only wants to go drinking, the other person may not be interested.

When you only like the same things, you can only talk about those things. But when you like different things for the same reason, there is nothing you can't talk about.