Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post - What to do when temporarily unable to get away from negative people?

Jesann · 01-01-2009, 10:23 PM

Happy New Year!!!!

Yesterday I went grocery shopping (yum, berry muffins). When I left the store, I had to go back through another part of the building to get to the parking lot. Another shopper, a man in maybe his 60s or 70s, held the door open for me, and I wished him a happy new year.

He walked behind me for a bit-- not creepy following, but just heading in the same direction. He started to comment about hoping 2009 was better than 2008; I responded with positive comments, stuff like "it will be," but every time I said something positive (and no matter how "final" I'd make it sound, to end the conversation), he would try to "have the last word" with something negative about the economy and state of the world. Finally he had to walk in another direction to get to where he wanted to go.

So he was determined to stay immersed in negativity and try to pull me into it, too (misery loves company). Yes, I'm aware that a part of my subconscious that's afraid of things going well was trying to pull me back into negativity by attracting this situation.

But what do you do when you're temporarily unable to move away from a situation like that, you know, you're in an elevator, or in line, or in this case both headed to the same area of a building? Are there any lines you use to politely and positively let the person know that you won't be their commiseration buddy/psychic food source? Suggestions welcome!

01-01-2009, 10:23 PM	#1 (permalink)
Jesann Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 162	What to do when temporarily unable to get away from negative people? Happy New Year!!!! Yesterday I went grocery shopping (yum, berry muffins). When I left the store, I had to go back through another part of the building to get to the parking lot. Another shopper, a man in maybe his 60s or 70s, held the door open for me, and I wished him a happy new year. He walked behind me for a bit-- not creepy following, but just heading in the same direction. He started to comment about hoping 2009 was better than 2008; I responded with positive comments, stuff like "it will be," but every time I said something positive (and no matter how "final" I'd make it sound, to end the conversation), he would try to "have the last word" with something negative about the economy and state of the world. Finally he had to walk in another direction to get to where he wanted to go. So he was determined to stay immersed in negativity and try to pull me into it, too (misery loves company). Yes, I'm aware that a part of my subconscious that's afraid of things going well was trying to pull me back into negativity by attracting this situation. But what do you do when you're temporarily unable to move away from a situation like that, you know, you're in an elevator, or in line, or in this case both headed to the same area of a building? Are there any lines you use to politely and positively let the person know that you won't be their commiseration buddy/psychic food source? Suggestions welcome!