This is really so true! Thanks Erin.
This happened to me at a party a couple months ago. My friend and I began chatting with a pregnant woman who neither of us had ever met before. My friend asked her if this was her first and she replied "no." She said this totally neutrally, but I got this feeling that this woman doesn't have any children. Still, we were making conversation, and the usual banter would require someone ask, "oh, how old are your other children?" My intuition said "just drop it, change the subject." But logic said, "Jeez, just make small talk, will ya?"
So I asked her about her other kids. And I was so NOT surprised when she told me her daughter had died. I stuck my foot in my mouth and totally vowed to listen to my intuition next time.
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