I used to be good at pretending to care.  Someone would start telling me an incredibly boring story, and I’d act like it was the most fascinating thing in the world.  I was so good at feigning interest, that people would tell me, “Wow, you’re a great listener.”  I’d always smile smugly and say, “I know.”

But lately, my pretending skill set has started to deteriorate -- and my husband has been calling me on it.  Just yesterday, when he launched into his latest “fascinating” story about the office copy machine, he spotted my eyes glazing over.  “Your stories aren’t any more interesting than mine,” he said.  “But at least I pretend to listen to you.  Maybe I should just talk to the cat instead.”

Obviously, I needed to brush up on my technique.

Because even though I don’t care about the 95% of the minutia that he talks about (I mean seriously, who cares that Jorge Posada retired from the Yankees?), he cares that I listen.  And it’s only fair, since he fakes interest in all the nonsense I blather on about (like Damon and Elena finally kissing on The Vampire Diaries).

So what does this all mean?

For the people who matter most, you should at least pretend to care what they have to say.  And who knows, maybe one day you’ll even find it interesting.