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Anyone else have a problem with friends and relatives who will call just to spend 20 or more minutes talking about something you couldn't care less about, such as -- this is an imaginary example -- the situation between Tom and Sue, two of your SIL's co-workers, who can't stand each other and are making your SIL's work life a hell on earth?
Look, I don't know Tom and Sue and I couldn't care less about their squabbles, so why must I be forced to waste 20 minutes or more of my time hearing about it! Three minutes. well, okay -- but why go on and on and on about it? Why do some people think that you are THAT interested in their workplace dramas involving people you don't even know?
I also dislike it when people will call with really nothing much to say. (I am not just talking about lonely old women here, as I know MANY people who will do this.) Why can't people come to the point and then just end the call?
Okay, rant off -- but if anyone has any ideas about how to discourage and/or end such calls without hurting feelings or lying, I'd love to hear them!
P.S. And, yes, I do know that there are MUCH worse problems than this one, but this is just a major irritation to me that I just wanted to vent about!
If you need to get off of the phone but can't figure out how to sign off, just hang up in the middle of a sentence - when YOU are speaking. Then don't answer when they call back. Next time you see them and they ask about it, just claim that the phone malfunctioned.
Anyone else have a problem with friends and relatives who will call just to spend 20 or more minutes talking about something you couldn't care less about, such as -- this is an imaginary example -- the situation between Tom and Sue, two of your SIL's co-workers, who can't stand each other and are making your SIL's work life a hell on earth?
Look, I don't know Tom and Sue and I couldn't care less about their squabbles, so why must I be forced to waste 20 minutes or more of my time hearing about it! Three minutes. well, okay -- but why go on and on and on about it? Why do some people think that you are THAT interested in their workplace dramas involving people you don't even know?
I also dislike it when people will call with really nothing much to say. (I am not just talking about lonely old women here, as I know MANY people who will do this.) Why can't people come to the point and then just end the call?
Okay, rant off -- but if anyone has any ideas about how to discourage and/or end such calls without hurting feelings or lying, I'd love to hear them!
P.S. And, yes, I do know that there are MUCH worse problems than this one, but this is just a major irritation to me that I just wanted to vent about!
When they start the topic change the subject or tell them you have to get off of the phone then hang up.
It really is not that difficult to take control of a conversation.
Hanging up is a good idea. and I do use the "gotta go" excuse often, but there are some people who do this almost every time they call -- and unless I would flat-out say, "Look, I find that subject really boring" -- which I don't feel comfortable doing with people I care about (or, really, almost anyone else for that matter) -- they would not get the hint.
(I do have absolutely no problem hanging up on telemarketers mid-intro, though!)
P.S. I don't have a phone with a texting option, and I don't want one. (I'm a 61-year-old dinosaur.)
Ugh, I get caught in these traps too. How about when they need to tell you about a movie they saw.. "and this woman had a son, who she gave up for adoption, and the son went on to be a lawyer, but the woman, this woman, married a man who was abusive, so she killed him and then when she was being tried, she didn't know it was her son who..." omggggggggggggggg. LOOK AT THAT. I just spilled coffee all over my keyboard.. gotta go. Will call you back.
One day, not long ago, a woman in our group was starting to talk about someone. A person asked if we knew these people and why would we care anything about them. She got the idea, can't say "hint" in this case.
You have to stop these people as soon as they start.
Also, there's Caller ID for precisely this problem.
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