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You know, I just went home for a week and my sister found I was venting a little too much about work. One night at her son's, his daughter showed us her toy microphone from Disney's movie Frozen... or as the little ones called it Fronen. When my grandniece pushed the button the song Let it go started and would go a little.....unless you hit the button again...and then it would start off "Let it go"... and Sugar kept hitting the button over and over. It was funny.
And that first night.... when I'd vent about work....my sister would start singing Let it go. And I was doing it back to her when she would go on about something.... and then we did it to our other sister......
In our family a sense of humor goes a long way... unfortunately, when I try this with others I find they have no sense of humor and choose to be offended. They seem to like being offended. So -- I'd try a gentle poke of humor and see how that goes over...
Ah, sometimes I wish I could hear the ailments of my 2 best friends. I've been without both for over 15 years. But, I did get tired of hearing the complaints. Oh well, maybe they'll have found something else to talk about when we finally see each other again.
You know, I just went home for a week and my sister found I was venting a little too much about work. One night at her son's, his daughter showed us her toy microphone from Disney's movie Frozen... or as the little ones called it Fronen. When my grandniece pushed the button the song Let it go started and would go a little.....unless you hit the button again...and then it would start off "Let it go"... and Sugar kept hitting the button over and over. It was funny.
And that first night.... when I'd vent about work....my sister would start singing Let it go. And I was doing it back to her when she would go on about something.... and then we did it to our other sister......
In our family a sense of humor goes a long way... unfortunately, when I try this with others I find they have no sense of humor and choose to be offended. They seem to like being offended. So -- I'd try a gentle poke of humor and see how that goes over...
That might be funny if someone rambled on about the same thing over and over, BUT, that would annoy the crap out of me on an ongoing basis if someone did that every time I vented. That's what friends are for -- to listen when we vent, to empathize, perhaps offer solutions or advice....or maybe not. I also have a new neighbor friend who does something equally annoying, and that is that she's always playing devil's advocate if I vent about someone or something....trying to defend the person's position or help me to look at it from their point of view. That approach may be helpful sometimes, but not ALWAYS. I'm sure she wouldn't have appreciated hearing that from me when she vented about her abusive, loser, manipulative ex-husband.
That might be funny if someone rambled on about the same thing over and over, BUT, that would annoy the crap out of me on an ongoing basis if someone did that every time I vented. That's what friends are for -- to listen when we vent, to empathize, perhaps offer solutions or advice....or maybe not. I also have a new neighbor friend who does something equally annoying, and that is that she's always playing devil's advocate if I vent about someone or something....trying to defend the person's position or help me to look at it from their point of view. That approach may be helpful sometimes, but not ALWAYS. I'm sure she wouldn't have appreciated hearing that from me when she vented about her abusive, loser, manipulative ex-husband.
It's easy for venting to turn into eating your own liver as my husband puts it. I have and had friends that get SO wound up that they can't see they are making everything all about them all the time and then wonder why friends are cutting them out. Including me. Friendship is give and take. I am not on this earth to be your verbal spew bucket.
I think that's more what the OP is talking about and more what I am referring to, rather than an occasional venting from a friend.
Show them photo's of the worst cases of suffering in the world, like what's going on in Syria or South Sudan! That should do it!!! Shut 'em up! Temporarily!
I listen for what seems to be the appropriate amount of time and when they start to rehash or go into excruciating details, I jump in when they stop to take a breath and say something like "Gosh I am so sorry to hear about your diverticulitis (or whatever), I hope you'll be feeling better soon. Did you hear about XXXX?" (or "I've been wanting to ask you about XXXXX) basically a total change of topic. Sometimes it takes this radical hi-jack of the conversation for them to realize they have been droning on. Then they will say "My gosh, I didn't realize I was blathering on, sorry I just needed to vent".
About every medical test, every Doctor appointment.
How do you politely tell them you don't won to hear the same story, different doctor different test, conversation over and over again.
I actually enjoy hearing about those things, as long as facts are involved and not personalities. Yes, please tell me what the doctor said about your toenail fungus or your arthritic hip. No, I don't want to hear how snippy the nurse was.
Apparently our friends feel the same way, as we spent a dinner together recently discussing our colonoscopies. Strange, I know, but we had fun.
You know, I just went home for a week and my sister found I was venting a little too much about work. One night at her son's, his daughter showed us her toy microphone from Disney's movie Frozen... or as the little ones called it Fronen. When my grandniece pushed the button the song Let it go started and would go a little.....unless you hit the button again...and then it would start off "Let it go"... and Sugar kept hitting the button over and over. It was funny.
And that first night.... when I'd vent about work....my sister would start singing Let it go. And I was doing it back to her when she would go on about something.... and then we did it to our other sister......
In our family a sense of humor goes a long way... unfortunately, when I try this with others I find they have no sense of humor and choose to be offended. They seem to like being offended. So -- I'd try a gentle poke of humor and see how that goes over...
About every medical test, every Doctor appointment.
How do you politely tell them you don't won to hear the same story, different doctor different test, conversation over and over again. .
Most of these are not life threatening illnesses. .
They believe and will take every pill every test.
I am sure these greedy doctors see them as an easy mark and take advantage of them..
The phycological drugs they're taking are usually the root cause and directly related to the real health issues.
I have shown them the side effects of these drugs and I'm talking to a brick wall.
I know they're lonely and depressed.
I hate to lose their friendship because they have come to depend on me for errands.
Frankly I am one of their only friend.
All their friends and family have given up..
Suggestions?
I feel if I abandon them what will happen to them.
LOL OP, I used to feel this way about a friend when she had her first kid. I've heard every detail of her delivery 100 times, then we moved on to consistency of bowel movements, and on and on. I really missed talking adult and was upfront, hello is Dee in there anywhere? Eventually I realized we were just moving through a different phase and I just couldn't take it anymore. She found friends she could talk about bowel movement consistancy with and I favored my adult friends. Maybe a different situation but the same. I feel you.
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