Crosswords0 min ago
Xmas day small talk with relatives
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Topics to aviod *in my experience*:
- avoid all mention of football/rugby/cricket etc, unless you definately know they support the same team as you *x-mas at my house; uncle no1: Spurs, uncle no2: Arsenal, uncle no3: Man U, father: Chelsea, Grandad: Liecester - never bodes well*.
- never mention the lovely time you had at the other side of the family's do.
- do not mention children *if any* except in very brief passing, unless you would like a full, day by day account of little Alex's school year... "Oh he was simply marvelous as Joseph in the nativity, wasn't he Jules?" Do. I. Care.
Generally safe topics:
- How great the food is.
- How lovely the decorations are.
- The christmas rush - compare "ionly just got everything in time" stories.
A good rule of thumb is people always like to talk about themselves; this also takes you off the hook, as all you have to do is pretend to be interested while listening. Ask them what they did over their Summer holidays, maybe, or how their children are (if they have any)*, or how was the traffic on their way over, is that car of theirs holding up, or did they get a new one, blah blah. (Is it really considered too intimate to inquire of one's health in Britain? We Yanks would run out of conversation quite quickly if we didn't discuss our various aches, pains and ailments at parties! <g>)
*Of course you don't really care, but it's a safe topic, and all you have to do is nod and smile.
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