Thursday, April 20, 2017

Q - 5 irritating Questions that people ask and how to tackle them!


Our lives are never private. There are people all around us trying to poke their noses into everything we do or don’t. They are so interested to know every little thing that goes on in our lives that it becomes a pain answering them.  

Are you free? they will ask. Your time is never your own. You will be expected to run errands, complete their child’s project, or whatever. But if you refuse to help, saying you have your own work to complete, they have the next question ready.

How much do you earn? they will want to know. Hah! They really expect you to tell them the figures? Don’t answer it, but if you did, well, God save you. If they think you are earning well, they will pop the next question.

Why are you single? What a waste of your life, if you aren’t yet married by the ‘correct’ age that society has set for you. Perhaps they will give you a cursory look and try to reason why marriage has evaded you.  

Why don’t you do something about your colour/ size? Poor souls. Don’t they know that one can do absolutely nothing about the colour of your skin, height and err…weight?  But when you eventually get married, you know what they will ask next...

When will you have a child? As if having a child is the sole reason why people get married!

After having given you the headache of a marriage and a child and seeing you run around like a headless chicken, will they get off your back? No! They will come back to question #1.  

Are you free?



So, here are 5 ways to tackle these irritating questions.

Use humour.

Find a funny way to reply back to irritating questions. If someone’s pestering you with the why aren’t you married question, roll your eyes and say, ‘Oh my, are you jealous?’, or wink and say, ‘Amn’t I lucky?’, or better, ‘Because I love bread pakoda more’!

Ask another question.

It always irritates people when you answer a question with another question. If someone’s asks, how much do you earn, say, ‘Why is that important to you?’, or ask them the same question, ‘How much do you earn?’ or even tongue-in-cheek, ‘Why, aren’t you paid enough?’

Be vague.

Giving vague answers which give out nothing about what they want to know is a clever way of getting them off your back. If someone asks, ‘What price did you sell your house for?’  say, ‘Even a million bucks would not be enough payment for this lovely home,’ or ‘Money is just a number, can it buy happiness?’

Give them an irrelevant and lengthy explanation.

If people have come looking for spice, give it to them. Take them round and round in circles, giving them all sorts of irrelevant information and take up so much of their time that they will think twice before asking personal questions again.

Refuse to answer.

Just refuse to answer. People aren’t expecting you to refuse to answer them. Knock them over with a refusal, ‘I’m sorry, but I don’t want to answer that.’ Simple.

What's your trick? 


16 comments:

  1. Well very given tips .. Gonna implement soon and see the reactions..:)

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  2. Roundabout answers, yup, I've tried that... Simply refusing to answer is what I wanna learn. For some reason I can never bring myself to say that.
    One of the things I read somewhere a long time ago is to just smile and ask, "Why do you wanna know?"

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  3. I loved the quirky answers tips you gave. I personally love counter questioning with an equally uncomfortable question. I sound ruthless but it's tit for tat.

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  4. I guess I have used all these tricks... :D
    -----
    Eva - Mail Adventures

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  5. Heres another one I often hear on being a housewife, " What do you do all day at home"? ANd I just stare back blank and confused...

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  6. This post made me laugh and how!
    We get asked a lot that why we don't have children and who will 'take care of us in our old age' to which i always quip back, 'Since you are so concerned about us ask your children to do so' ;))))
    I love your retorts, and will be using them!:)

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  7. I try to use humor, except when the question really upsets me. In that case, I get blunt. I never used to, but as I've grown wiser, I've learned that is sometimes the best path. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

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  8. 'when are you having a child' is so irritating and almost haunted me because I decided to plan my baby little late. Why can't people mind their own business!!
    Tina
    Twinkling Tina Cooks

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  9. I prefer replying with irrelevant and nonsensical answers mostly. But sometimes, when I'm already having a difficult day, I can give them a cold stare or even a caustic retort. :P

    Happy AtoZing!
    Chicky @ www.mysteriouskaddu.com

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  10. Most often, I don't react to questions that are provocative. I find that is the best response :) When we don't react, it gives the other person no ammunition to continue.

    *Q for Quit: Shailaja/The Moving Quill*

    Theme: An Oxymoron in 100 words (Micro Fiction)
    Category Writing (WR)
    #AtoZChallenge

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  11. at this stage of life, it's the first one which I have to tackle every now n then....but there was a time when I had answered(willingly or unwillingly) other questions too that you have mentioned...at times its really irritating...

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  12. Ha! Those are some creative replies. I loved the one with bread pakoda in it! I'd have asked you the next question after that, "Are you getting married to a bread pakoda then?" ;)

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  13. Haha!! This was a fun post!!! I loved the way you gave the examples here!

    Cheers
    BoisterousBee

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  14. Ha ha I love your tips. I want to see some faces when I launch into a long and silly and very very boring answer to one of those questions.

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  15. Oh that dreaded baby question... That's unavoidable whenever I speak to someone back home. Sometimes I answer with it's in the making 😆

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  16. I have heard and faced all these questions. Initially, I used to fumble. But later, I replied in such a way that the quiz master used to be baffled with my reverts.
    Experience is the best teacher.

    ReplyDelete

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person..deep gratitude for those who have lighted the flame within me!! your comments will be appreciated..

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