Not Okay

I hate when you’re talking to someone, you tell them some fact and they respond, “Okay….?”

It sounds like they’re saying: “I’m not sure whether I believe you, but I’ll play along for now.”
it sounds like, “Well…if you say so…”

Or, like “I don’t really care WHAT you do.” Or know, or say.

I’d rather they said, “Tell me more!” Or, “How interesting! “

Of course, maybe they just AREN’T interested in what I’m saying, hard as that is for me to believe. But the whole point of making polite conversation is for both speakers to pretend they ARE interested. A wary “Okay…?” doesn’t cut it.

It’s just a verbal tic, like starting every sentence with “So..” and I really wish THAT one would go away. “So” means “therefore”, right? It has no place in response to a simple request for information, where there isn’t any “there” in the foreground. Nor as the initiation of a transmission of information. It makes me feel like I must’ve missed something the person already said.

Welp— just gettin’ sump’n off my chest; thanks for your kind attention.