[thechat] Pet Hate

Ian Anderson ian at zstudio.co.uk
Tue May 24 05:09:10 CDT 2005


Hi from rainy England,

I was reflecting this morning about a pet hate of mine, which is this:

Someone calls to visit. You naturally offer them a cup of tea. The 
danger is that instead of a straight Yes or No, they may say:

"If you're having one..."

Now, quite often I will just have just finished a cup of tea*, and I am 
not in the mood for another. I'd be perfectly happy to sip a glass of 
water to keep them company, but I don't want another cup of tea so soon.

I am left in a dilemma; I can't very well say, "No, I've just had one." 
and leave them without a cup of tea. If I make them a cup but myself a 
water, does it look rude? I don't really want to make an extra cup of 
tea just for show; I suppose I could *pretend* to make it - Penn & 
Teller fashion - but not really put the water in. This is quite hard to 
pull off, unless the visitor is over 60, sitting on a very low chair or 
especially gullible.

Sometimes I have to stare hard at them for several minutes until they 
come off the fence one way or the other. Why can't people just answer 
the frickin' question without dragging me into it?

I am 38 years old - is this a factor? Can anyone suggest a more graceful 
way of handling this social dilemma?

Yrs,

Flubba


* Although I am a Scot, we are in England after all...






More information about the thechat mailing list