Hard days...
It's been a tough day today - i've had a very tired (crochety) friend on my hands all day - one of those situations where it doesn't matter what you say, you're in trouble. All of you know this situation right? It's where you dread answering even the simplest question in case you give some opening to argument...
Once upon a time I would have dealt with this by (figuratively speaking) brute strength, and argued right back, but more fiercely and more ferociosly, but these days im more inclined to try to kill the problem by solving the issue...
What the hell do you do when you don't know what the bloody issue is?
- Y! MyWeb
rock back and forth lightly rapping your head against the wall until they go away; you'd be surprised how well it works.
Ouch.
Listen more than talk? This is a really really hard thing to deal with, because practically anything you say WILL be the wrong thing for that particular moment.
Best to you, friend. If your buddy's off home now, sit down and have whatever you favor for a relaxer.... maybe tomorrow will be better!
Yep.
I'm with vkaryl on that one... just let 'em bitch, or whatever they do, and nod and say things like, "interesting."
old friend = good friend?
A simple STFU should do. If he is a true mate he will still talk to you :-)
ukgimp = billy no mates
You have a friend pouring their troubles out and you say STFU, you must treat your friends different in your part of the world :)
What happened to Empathy and Sympathy?
Your best mate says
Your best mate says...my dad has just had a triple heart bypass operation, the dog got knocked down by a bus, the cat fell out of a tree, the wife has just left me for a younger man and has got a court injunction so I can't see the kids again and you say
STFU
I can see it now hehe :)
Actually
This was all brought on by tiredness and the accidental destruction on a bit of electrical equipment (i dropped it in the dogs water bowl :-)
There was nothng i could say or do that did not start a fresh torrent of general abuse...
I ended up drinking way too much red wine, calling mick_g and talking crap and forgot to turn the trackback off over night so when i finally surfaced at lunchtime today there was a flood of spam, pm's and im's waiting for me.
All in all, Sunday was one hell of a shit day...
Not What I Meant Mick
Diffent situations clerly call for different solutions. Perhaps I read it wrong, but I was under the impression that it was good mate on a bit of a self pity trip.
A different tactic comes into place when things are real, and if said mate needs anything you do all you can. Hell mates have done it for me and vise versa.
(off to re-read the thread many times to see where I misconstrued it)
Nah you was not talking crap
Nah you was not talking crap, I would of told you if you was, just for the record I got my ear bent good style for waking the wife up while I was talking to you at at 1.30 this morning, the good news is we are back speaking now when I explained that it was a very important phone call from someone in Denmark
I'm with you UKgimp :)
I read it as a mate on a whinge day too - in which case the correct response is "What the hell can I do when I don't know what the bloody issue is? - here have another beer and shut up"
If it's a friend in genuine trouble the correct response is "sit down and tell me - we can sort it out"
If it's a woman who had a baby 6 weeks ago the correct answer is "yes darling it is my fault, would you like a back rub?"
Back rub
Believe me Gurtie, i tried everything!
And i dont drive, cant see in the dark, and there's nowhere to go anyway right out here in the country - so no bloody escape either :)
All better now though, shit happens...
no sympathy
on the basis that women have to stick together in this world I'm pretty confident it was your own fault, you deserved all you got and who caused this baby/alarm clock anyway :)