Re: Come On, Tell The Truth...Have You Ever Dodged Somebody?

Perth!?...Boy that is some "drop in".. Yes it's a pathetic attempt at humour. I know you mean Perth, Scotland. But in response to all theses I can't stand it when people just drop in or even worse unannounced. I reckon it's rude and invasive no matter who it is. But when people just ring and ask if they can drop in and you are not agreeable, I think it's totally fine to say "No it's not a good time right now. Give me a call ( Later/ another day) first..and we can have a catchup"..or sonnink like that. Maybe they really want to see you or maybe they are just presumptuous and entitled. Either way it's up to you. It's not "dodging", it's just exercising your right to choose when you see people. YOU decide. If they get miffed when you knock them back, that's their problem. And yes I have done it: many times.

Re: Come On, Tell The Truth...Have You Ever Dodged Somebody?

No, I don't deliberately dodge someone. Not saying it hasn't been a tempting option at times but if a person seeks me out, I try to accommodate them. If I am in a rush or need to go, I tell them it was good to see them and will catch up another time.

Re: Come On, Tell The Truth...Have You Ever Dodged Somebody?

I have a little story to tell about dodging people.

working for BT on our patch in Epsom were 4/5 mental hospitals built way back in the 1900s.

Now the layout was like a wheel with the centre and corridors leading from it . Around the outside was a corridor right around the whole complex.

One day two of us were working in this outer ring, had to have a doubled up crew because of the patients, when we spotted our inspector coming up the entrance drive in his morris minor.

Ok let the games begin, he asked at the centre where abouts we were and started off to find us. ha ha ha, as he wanders around we whipped right around and got behind him. So for the next half to an hour there he was trying to find us with us following just out of sight.
Ok time to pack up ,end of day, so we let him come around for the umteenth time and he found us just packing up.

He said he had been trying to find us for the last hour or so and we just said we had to go to another part of the building to sort out cable runs.

God bless him he never caught on

Re: Come On, Tell The Truth...Have You Ever Dodged Somebody?

The question deserves some reversal, do folks sometimes "Dodge" you, do they cross the street when they see you coming, perhaps everyone is dodging everyone else cos everyone is basically antisocial.

Re: Come On, Tell The Truth...Have You Ever Dodged Somebody?

Not brave, just straightforward. We do have friends, people who accept us for the way we are and thinking about it are the same. We keep socialising for social occasions.

Re: Come On, Tell The Truth...Have You Ever Dodged Somebody?

Friends dropping in - No, telephone calls - Yes! God bless whoever invented 'caller display'.

Dropping in - most of my friends know me well enough to appreciate that, if I am busy, they just say a brief 'hello' and go away again. If I am not busy they are welcome to have a cup of tea/coffee and maybe a snack - or two.

Telephone - I do have a couple of friends with mental health issues and readily confess to not always answering their calls. One in particular drones on for hours about her extended family - and it is always negative. I do not know these people, am never likely to know them, but every time they are mentioned she has to set the scene - "our Mary - you know - the one with four kids, three dogs and a filthy house"! Some days I just cannot face that - so I do not answer.

Grandma had a cunning plan - she would put her coat on before she answered the door. If it was someone she was happy to see then she had 'just come in'. If it was an unwelcome caller then she was 'just going out' - said as she stepped out and closed the door behind her!

Artangel - in a way - you are being thoughtful by dodging. If you have not the time or inclination to give your attention to your caller at that moment - it is better not to let them in and then seethe with resentfulness because you want to be somewhere else or doing something else.

Doesn't make you a bad/unfriendly person!

Re: Come On, Tell The Truth...Have You Ever Dodged Somebody?

In the 80s I lived in Kendal, Cumbria and I had a neighbour who would come knocking on my door as soon as my living room curtains were open. It was really bad because I was trying to get my 5 uear old son ready for school and it really was an inconvenient time to come come for a call. She would only go when I left to take him to school then she would watch for me coming back and come knocking again. She would always outstay her welcome and I used to actually go out just to get rid of her even if I had no need to go out.

When I think about it now she could be described as a stalker, she was strange and she seemed a bit obsessed with me but I always felt sorry for her as she was lonely. I never saw anyone visiting her.

I was glad when we moved.

I don't know why I put up with it looking bàck. I was too soft to say anything back then, it wouldn't happen now as i.m more assertive as I got older.

Re: Come On, Tell The Truth...Have You Ever Dodged Somebody?

One of our neighbours is the type that hangs out of the window, wanting to know where you're going and what you're up to all the time.
He's nice enough but you run the gauntlet everytime you leave the house.
I just confess, we often sneak in and out the back way....

Re: Come On, Tell The Truth...Have You Ever Dodged Somebody?

Ah, that explains it.

Re: Come On, Tell The Truth...Have You Ever Dodged Somebody?

I used to have a neighbour that was so slow in everything he said and did that he made a snail look like Jenson Button. Getting caught up in a conversation with him was terminal. Sometimes if he knocked on the door, Mrs LD would call the house phone from her mobile so that I could say 'Sorry, must go.' Quite often I would see him walking past my house so I would deliberately drive past, park up for ten minutes (Just enough time to get his door key out) before returning home.