Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

So what can we talk about then eh

Whanganui Chronicle
16 Oct, 2011 11:12 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article

In just over a week, we are going to have a problem.

Quite simply we will have to start communicating again. Not that we have stopped communicating lately but we are going to have to search out some new topics to discuss.

Such is the dominance of the Rugby World Cup that it seems to have completely taken over all meaningful communication.

You simply can't go anywhere, it feels, without spending your time discussing the merits of this player or that, who is injured or which team you fancy to claim the coveted Webb Ellis Trophy.

It really has become an obsession. What it means, of course, is the art of conversation is almost dead.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Rugby has taken the place of weather as the conversation starter, the topic of chat around the water cooler at work; the icebreaker.

But come October 24, we are suddenly going to have to exercise our minds again and look for actual topics to discuss.

Heaven forbid, it may even be forced on us as early as Monday.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Hopefully not that soon, but in any case shortly after the grand finale there will surely be the usual post-mortems to be conducted into the tournament and how New Zealand fared, which will keep the chins wagging on the topic for a time yet.

Oh dear, all that navel-gazing; the blame and recriminations.

It's hard to say what would be worse, the celebrations and subsequent hero worship should the wounded All Blacks actually pull off victory, or the pain and misery of defeat and another four years of soul-searching and cursing our rotten luck.

Once the hype dies down though, and the rules of conversation return to normal, we will have to relearn the art of normal interactive dialogue; asking questions about people: how they are, and what they have been doing.

What's more, we will have to provide answers when those questions are asked of us.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Of course, we may actually find engaging with one another on a more personal level to be quite pleasant. It certainly will be a relief for all the rugby widows and widowers out there, not to mention those who simply don't care for the game or its showpiece tournament.

After several weeks of suffocation under the weight of rugby-mania, it will be nice to breathe in deeply on the fresh air of normal life.

But only if the final result goes our way!

Feedback: editor@wanganuichronicle.co.nz

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

$22m loan package announced for struggling regional airlines

23 Apr 10:08 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

One year on: Waitōtara’s old hotel site for sale after devastating fire

23 Apr 05:00 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

'Will not be tolerated': Review ordered after prisoners escape cells in van

23 Apr 06:37 AM

Sponsored

Endangered bird gets another chance

21 Apr 02:30 AM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

$22m loan package announced for struggling regional airlines
Whanganui Chronicle

$22m loan package announced for struggling regional airlines

Airlines already under pressure before Iran war have taken hits from soaring fuel prices.

23 Apr 10:08 PM
One year on: Waitōtara’s old hotel site for sale after devastating fire
Whanganui Chronicle

One year on: Waitōtara’s old hotel site for sale after devastating fire

23 Apr 05:00 PM
'Will not be tolerated': Review ordered after prisoners escape cells in van
Whanganui Chronicle

'Will not be tolerated': Review ordered after prisoners escape cells in van

23 Apr 06:37 AM


Endangered bird gets another chance
Sponsored

Endangered bird gets another chance

21 Apr 02:30 AM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • NZME Digital Performance Marketing
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2026 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP