KLPNO
Senior Member
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2007
- Member Type
- Other
- Native Language
- Russian
- Home Country
- Russian Federation
- Current Location
- Russian Federation
Hello everyone.
From the book Psychology of Hope by Charles Snyder.
It was to be a fairly long flight from Dallas to Seattle. I was settling into a window seat as we taxied for takeoff, when I noticed that the man next to me was crying. My first thought was that he might be afraid of flying. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Oh, my mother died, and I am going to her funeral. Sorry.” He was trying to gain his composure, but his pain was obvious. For the next two hours, I listened to Marty talk. His life story poured out as we crossed the western skies.
His mothers death had left him feeling very alone. In truth, however, he always had been unable to connect with people. “I’m a loner,” noted Marty. “In fact, in school they gave me the nickname Drainpipe.”
“Why?” I asked, having missed his meaning.
“Well, you know, I’m kind of a downer, like a drainpipe.” He didn’t smile, the humor had long since gone from this clever, but cruel nicknaming. This thirty-five-year-old man obviously still was hurt by a nickname given him as a teenager.
Marty was unmarried but desperately wanted a long-term relationship. To hear him talk, he thought about this topic constantly.
Does "To hear him talk" imply "When I was hearing what he was saying it was clear/obvious to me that he thought about this topic constantly"?
From the book Psychology of Hope by Charles Snyder.
It was to be a fairly long flight from Dallas to Seattle. I was settling into a window seat as we taxied for takeoff, when I noticed that the man next to me was crying. My first thought was that he might be afraid of flying. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Oh, my mother died, and I am going to her funeral. Sorry.” He was trying to gain his composure, but his pain was obvious. For the next two hours, I listened to Marty talk. His life story poured out as we crossed the western skies.
His mothers death had left him feeling very alone. In truth, however, he always had been unable to connect with people. “I’m a loner,” noted Marty. “In fact, in school they gave me the nickname Drainpipe.”
“Why?” I asked, having missed his meaning.
“Well, you know, I’m kind of a downer, like a drainpipe.” He didn’t smile, the humor had long since gone from this clever, but cruel nicknaming. This thirty-five-year-old man obviously still was hurt by a nickname given him as a teenager.
Marty was unmarried but desperately wanted a long-term relationship. To hear him talk, he thought about this topic constantly.
Does "To hear him talk" imply "When I was hearing what he was saying it was clear/obvious to me that he thought about this topic constantly"?
