This One Line from the Friends TV Show Made Me Better at Dealing with People
‘What Mario isn’t telling you’ made me take every human interaction with a grain of salt
I was naive when it came to interacting with another human being. I had no people skill whatsoever. None. Nada.
I used to take people at face value. You could come to me with any secret motive hidden behind your soft demeanor and I wouldn’t be able to suspect a thing.
Books were all I had in my life. Spending lonely time reading books and doing stuff was what I loved doing best and so did the most.
Think about the most introvert person you’ve ever seen in your life. Well, I was that person. Whenever any guest came to our house, I would hide behind the doors. My mother shouted out for me all she wanted, but I wouldn’t come out.
Strangers made me freak out. Parties and social gatherings were anathemas to me. They made me feel bored. I particularly avoided any gathering where I had to meet new people. I was unsocial, to say the least.
Looking people into the eyes made me very uncomfortable. My parents scolded me time and again to behave in front of the guests but that didn’t rectify me a bit.
People would request me for anything and everything and I didn’t know how to say no. I was too naive to see that they were using me for their own benefit.
When it came to the relationship, I was a complete novice. I couldn’t even tell when someone close to me was lying on my face.
I was the easiest person to make fool of. People’s soft voices made me melt like butter on a hot pan. I wouldn’t judge people even when their behaviors seemed suspicious. I couldn’t catch people doing dramas. They got away with it.
If you are an introvert, like I used to, then you have these 2 options to develop your people skills.
- You can spend more time with the same group of people. Spend more time with your friend circle and attend family programs.
- Meet new people. Join parties and other social gatherings where you can meet new people from all walks of life with different backgrounds and characteristics.
What if parties made you feel bored and the thought of meeting strangers gives you the shiver?
I had these two options to make myself come out of my shell but couldn’t choose either. That left me with a third option that I didn’t know I had.
Sometimes in life, you’re faced with a paradox that you don’t know how to solve. The only thing you know is that you have to. Because if you don’t, you don’t know what else you can do. You take a course of life unwittingly which doesn’t seem to be a problem solver at that time. You can connect the dots only when you look from hindsight.
English isn’t my native language. So I started binge-watching movies and TV shows to learn English. Eventually, I got hooked. As my taste grew, I geared toward character-driven stories.
The interpersonal conflicts among characters taught me about the complex human behaviors. The way the characters interacted with each other made me think through the human psychology.
I became a fan of thriller and crime TV shows as these develop characters and stories with no clue given to the audience initially and unravel them as the show approaches the end.
Watching TV shows and movies helped me a lot. Movies and TV shows from different genres helped me came in contact with different characters and their interpersonal relations.
Friends is my most favorite TV show. It taught me a great many things. You can read about it in another article of mine.
One slogan-on-poster in particular from episode 9 of season 1 from the Friends has proven to be the most effective in developing my people skills. It was a VD awareness poster featuring Joey. Joey was trying his luck doing some commercials when he couldn’t find any role on TV or movies.
The poster read, “What Mario isn’t telling you…”.
The writers of Friends didn’t set out to change anyone’s perspective with this poster, I’m quite sure about that. It was one of that filler-moment making fun of Joey.
It didn’t provoke any thought in my mind the first time I saw it. Sometimes afterward though a thought occurred to me out of nowhere that this seemingly no-thrill slogan-on-poster could help me with my people skill.
And that was revolutionary! Afterward, when I’m talking with someone I think about “What Mario Isn’t Telling You” and it makes me think our conversations through. It makes me think twice about whether he’s hiding something or what he’s not telling me, etc.
Not every human being is created equal. Some will take advantage of you at every opportunity they can get. They will use you for their greater benefit. If you have to deal with one of them, you’d better be careful and take their words with a grain of salt.
Everything has its’ limits, though. If you take anything to the extreme, it becomes bitter. This does not bar me from talking with people with an open heart.
On the contrary, this allows me to talk with people in a careful manner that makes me more attentive to the conversation I’m having. Taking more cautions ensures that I won’t be taken advantage of.
The more you deal with people, usually the better you get at it. If you have to improve your people skills, then you have to socialize. You have to deal with people more often. You won’t have much social skills if you don’t spend time with people that much.
If you think you’re the sort of person that people take advantage of easily and use for their own good, then you want to remember this line. Whenever you’re in a negotiation or are simply dealing with people, look them into the eyes and say this line in your mind, “What Mario isn’t telling you”.
Some people are good at persuasions. Some are opposites. I was on the second team of people. This one slogan-on-poster from Friends has changed me and helped me get better at dealing with people. I can’t say none can take advantage of me now. But hey, I’m better prepared now.
