I was a privileged guest at a 50th wedding anniversary celebration this past Saturday. How many people do you know who have been married THAT long?!?! Impressive eh? When a couple has been married that long you may think that either they are the perfect match, very stubborn and determined, or they don't see much of each other! ; ) In case you're wondering, this particular couple attributes the survival of their marriage to God's faithfulness.
Early in the celebration, I was sitting at a table near the entrance to the party room. It was the perfect place to see people as they arrived and to have the opportunity to say HI and to exchange a few words. You know those typical words and phrases that are used when you're reunited with old friends and acquaintances? "How are you? It's been so long since I've seen you. It's so nice to see you. What have you been up to?" Well, one of the people I said hello to was only an acquaintance and so I asked a question to get to know her a bit better. She had just launched into her reply when someone broadsided our conversation by coming in close and saying a loud and bulldozing hello to me. Can you picture the situation? Your attention is pulled in two different directions and your senses have a tendency to zero in on the most demanding of the two stimuli.
Unfortunately the conversation train was completely derailed and never arrived at its destination. Opportunity lost.
I was disappointed and wondered how I could better handle that type of situation in the future. It's these social skills that you have to learn by trial and error I guess. I don't want to be rude to someone by ignoring them, or miss opportunities to say Hi to people and yet it's not right for someone to be more than briefly interrupted.
Any advice for me????
What do you do in a situation like this?
What do you do in a situation like this?
This IS awkward. It happens to me often in our church lobby. What if you were to just smile at the person to acknowledge their hello, and then return to the original conversation? Or perhaps a "Hi _____! Good to see you. Can you give us a few minutes?" Otherwise, the old standby could be to stick your tongue out at them. It works for me!
ReplyDeleteHaha. Good one! I like the, "Can you give us a few minutes?" suggestion. I feel that a smile is an invitation to dialogue.
ReplyDeletenonono, if someone said to me, "can you give us a few minutes?" i would feel terrible, like i had been reprimanded. you need to say something to the interrupter that makes them feel at ease but also takes care of the situation. maybe tell them hi, great to see them, etc. and will they be around for awhile, you're in a conversation right now but you'd love to find them later for a chat. . . that way they feel they are being pursued and not slapped on the wrist.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Christina, that was Jamerica. Otherwise known as "your source for all questions regarding proper etiquette".
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