I Understand

Riding my bicycle this morning I passed a pedestrian walking in the opposite direction. She was talking on her phone and I heard her say "I understand" and then we were out of earshot with one another. Why do people say that? I think that it sometimes is not a happy admission. Some reasons that come to mind are

  • Impatience at being interrupted
  • Annoyance at being condescended to
  • A reaction to an apology
  • To gain time to let you process bad news
  • An neutral acknowledgement that you followed what is being said

I will never know which of these apply to the conversation snippet that I overheard but there was something about her tone and facial expression that suggested bad news. Had I stopped and watch her recede into the distance perhaps her hand gestures would have hinted at which of these applied. But I didn't because I didn't have the curiousity that has been generated by writing this post.

I'll be ready next time someone says that

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