Humour: Dodging the curveball

There are moments in every person’s life when there is no way out of a sticky conversation other than by the use of subterfuge or deceit. No matter how committed you are to truth and sincerity, there’s always that interaction from hell that pushes your ethical boundaries. The offender is someone you cannot outright alienate or dismiss. Nor can you endure the ostensibly well-meaning advice that pushes all the wrong buttons (a lift operator’s nightmare?).You stutter, look away awkwardly, try to change the subject, but to no avail. Here’s a list of the most common of these conversational trapdoors and the means of avoiding them in the most elegant, if duplicitous, way possible.