How do you end a conversation when the subject being discussed no longer interests you? If you're terribly blunt you can just say, "This no longer interests me. I don't want to talk about it any more." Most of us, however, aren't that blunt. I know I'm not.
Sometimes you can be saved by a phone call from someone needing your attention. There is one gentleman, a fellow builder and a really nice guy, who comes by our jobsite now and then for a visit. I enjoy him for a while, but he just doesn't know when to leave. If my brother happens to drive by and see us outside talking, he'll call me in 5 minutes with an "urgent" message. Then I run off to handle the "emergency". *whew!*
Some people are like a dog with a bone...they just won't give it up. You try to change the subject, but they keep coming back to whatever topic they were on. I think some people just like to hear themselves talk. They repeat themselves, making the same point over and over. OK already. I get it!
You usually can't just avoid these people forever as they are often co-workers, relatives, neighbors, etc. You have to see them and you want to be polite, and you certainly don't want to hurt their feelings, but you just want to keep moving.
How do you politely extricate yourself from a conversation that you've long since lost interest in?
S
I guess I'm pretty good at coming across as uninterested because that doesn't happen to me very much. I think it's from when I was a teenager & worked in a store where the owner was a BIG talker. I would watch my mom get caught up in his minutia (she was too nice) & vow to never let that happen to me.
ReplyDeleteNow, with my husband it's another matter. He likes to talk things to death (in this respect our relationship is opposite of most). Eventually he'll notice that I'm not paying attention & call me on it. I'll tell him I was done with that discussion an hour ago. Oddly, we're still married :)
I excuse myself by telling the other person that I have a crippling case of diarrhea and really must go. Diarrhea is a magical word with the ability to make people near you vanish. If you're on the phone you can hang up after using this word and no one's feelings get hurt. Try it. I'm not kidding.
ReplyDeleteI wait for a pause in the conversation, jump in and say "I am really busy!!" Sorry!! I will catch up wit you later!". My 16 year old is not that polite...she opts for the blunt. I don't want to listen to that right now approach.
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