It seems I'm always being taken unaware by conversational booby traps. It must be a comedy to be around me. I think to myself, privately, was I sometimes so unaware as a child to learn how to extricate myself from such entrapment? I could have been, though I can tell you I didn't miss much, I was your silent listener with a book behind the sofa or lurking at the top of the stairs, soaking it all in.
To my utter shock, I was caught a few times recently.
Example 1:
An acquaintance who has never been to my house grabs some DVDs off my shelves and announces:
A. "I am borrowing these."
WWW: "Well, actually, I never lend out my movies"
A.: "Don't you trust me?"
WWW: "No, it's not a matter of trust. I base this on past experiences..."
Friend standing by: "Oh, you can trust her. I'll vouch for her."
A.: "See how ridiculous you are?"
A marches off. With my movies. I still don't know what I could have said to her.
Example 2:
I tell a friend here I am going to Toronto for a few weeks as another friend has offered me her downtown house.
F.: "Oh great, I've always wanted to hang around downtown Toronto! We'll spend some time, you can show me your old haunts. Great!!"
WWW: "Well, the house is a bit small, my granddaughter might want to stay...."
F: "Oh, I won't be in the way at all, just point me towards the subway!"
WWW: "And I'll want to entertain my friends and gabfest, etc."
F: "I'm dying to meet your friends, see what your Toronto life was like..."
Why am I always afraid to say NO out loud and vehemently?
So here I am now, still shy of a couple of movies a month later, and with a Toronto flight unbooked.
People pleaser. Yeah, I know. But how to stop? Is there some kind of lingo I missed out on?
