These beautiful summer days have brought me lately to a host of beautiful summer evening outings. To bars, mostly, I mean. For some reason I've been meeting friends over food and a drink more nights than not lately and while it has been an incredibly fun experience for the most part, but I've got to say I noticed an unsettling trend in the nights. unfortunately the tricky part about going into public is the chance hazard of meeting new people.
Each time I was out with one other female friend at some point in the night we were approached by a new smiling face. umm, ok, I'm totally social. buy me a drink? well how nice of you, you don't have to do that! what? oh NO! oh crap. you're talking all weird. thanks, my name is pretty? I guess. what? am I married? Oh so that's what this conversation is for. you're trying to pick me up. Take me home or something. oh geez. that's not what I signed on for! I'm just talking to my friend about terribly personal things over here and you are, yes, you're interrupting.
So this is something I've been wondering about. Meeting new people is usually quite nice, I love getting to know them and learning something new about the world and city where I live. It's these strange interactions, when the conversation becomes controlled by one party and morphed into something that makes me feel awkward, objectified, squirming to get out, that I hate. I've been struggling to find the most tactful, straightforward way to rebuff. What's your strategy?
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1 comment:
I find that being firm yet polite has worked well in the past. "I'm really sorry, but we're in the middle of a personal conversation right now," as stated by one WSC-er friend of ours at Dahlak last year.
It makes the person feel embarassed, but he needs to know that he is inappropriately interrupting.
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