“Hi, it’s so nice to see you, I haven’t seen you in ages. Who’s this? Is this your grand dad?”
“No, it’s my dad.”
*crickets*
It’s funny that regardless of what age I might be, I always think back to the things my mom told me when I was growing up. Like any other mum, my mom is not perfect, she doesn’t know it all and in fact, as we both grow older, I find that she’s asking me a lot more questions than I ask her. Yet above it all, I still think back to a lot of the wise words my mom had for me.
One of the most important ones, funny enough, is never to guess the answer to your own question.
“How old is your little one? Is she 10?”
*crickets*
“No. She’s 6.” Stares with a silent ‘Are you saying she looks big/old?’
I can think of dozens of scenarios where I was saved from what would have been sheer embarrassment, if not for Mum’s advice.
I have seen friends stumble, colleagues, relatives, myself stumble. Even my husband was extremely susceptible to the guessing-your-own-answer habit when I first met him, until I bestowed upon him Mum’s wise words. I don’t know what it is that makes us people want to guess. Maybe it’s an egoistical smart-arsy thing; like “oh I know the answer!”. Maybe it’s a nice, well-intentioned thing; like “oh I know you very well so I want to show you that I know the answer.” Whatever it is, time has always proven that it’s best to take the safe route and never guess your own answers ;)
“How far along are you now in your pregnancy? Are you 3 months pregnant?”
“What? No, I’m 8 months pregnant. Does my belly look too small? Do you think everything’s ok?” Poor worried pregnant mom hyperventilates.
Little tricky conversations I’m sure many of us have had. I can’t count how many times my husband has come home telling me “Phew! Lucky I didn’t guess the answer to my question today! It would have gone down so, so so bad.”
Have you had a tricky conversation like this before? Do you tend to guess the answers to your questions?
Linking up with Essentially Jess. photo credit: gagilas / cc
