UGC, You always say the nicest things and you are able to look at both sides of a story.
A lot of people judge and they weren’t even there!
I’m happy to let anyone offload to me, providing I’ve got the time and inclination to listen. No man is an island etc etc
Exactly! 
But helping to take the burden from someone isn’t going to cause you trouble to be fair
That’s nice of you to say so, Artangel. But I can tell you that it doesn’t always come naturally. I can be a bit wicked sometimes and say some mean things.
But when I do this kind of thing, I’ve found that it sometimes comes back on me. For example, I received an email today with the subject line:
“Arriving today: Enemy At The Door”
At first I thought it was Harbal cycling down to my place to sort me out! :shock: But then I realised that it was from Amazon letting me know that my box set of the TV series ‘Enemy At The Door’ starring Alfred Burke, was arriving today! Phew! LOL! 
I wouldn’t do that; you could be bigger than me for all I know.
But some people (me) find it excruciating to listen to somebody droning on and on about their medical history or their family; particularly when they don’t even know them very well. And then, of course, some people are harder than others to listen to.
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Bicycles should only speak when they are Spoken to Spitty…
I know exactly what you are talking about Art & if it was getting too much you needed to find a way to stop it.
I am also polite but,if somebody was chatting to me constantly I would have no problem saying " Sorry I will have to end our chat because I need to finish this book that I am returning to a friend today. I just haven’t had enough time to get the the end!"! If you are sitting next to a person who wont stop talking for an hour you have to find a way of stopping it and I would rather tell a fib than put up with it & then tell people what a nuisance she had been.
I wasn’t criticizing you, I was merely offering a suggestion of how you could stop the chat without causing offence!
Bravo, Foxy.
You are right OGF, a lot of people think I’m a bit Cranky
Winky?
Nudge nudge.
So do you actually always carry a book with you for the purpose of fending off verbal nuisances, Twinkle? If not, you would have a problem saying that. After thinking about it, it seems to me that if you don’t want to offend the person by telling them to shut up and go away, the best way to deal with the situation is to be more boring than they are. Drive them away, but make it their decision.
Earphones…that’s always a good plan for avoiding unwanted conversation. Listen to something or not, but have them in your ears anyway.
Groooaaa …
… oooaaannn!
LOL!
Good idea, Pixie. And don’t forget to rock your head back and forth too!
You haven’t met the neighbour who lived in the flat downstairs when I moved here in 2004. I saw he looked a bit distressed one day and, naive as I was in those days, I asked if he was ok. I was treated to a tearful conversation about the horrible aliens who had stolen his garden - not that either of us had one because we lived in terraced flats. Alarm bells clanged, and I left him to it… He was a schizophrenic who very often stopped taking his meds, loved taking drugs and who was also an alcoholic. Trust me when I say there’s NOTHING you want to learn from someone like that.
I ignored him thereafter and counted my blessings when he was carted off somewhere after a couple of years. He’s the reason I involve myself with none of my neighbours. It’s not worth the potential hassle.
I was just suggesting how Artangel could end the conversation with the lady, without being rude.
I don’t mind chatting to strangers,but if it went on for an hour I would always find a more gentle way to tell them, rather than saying “Shut up and go away”. Why be rude to somebody when you can end the conversation without being unpleasant?
Anyway, like I said, I am not going to get into an argument with anybody so I will just leave the thread!
My problem is not with a neighbour but a Technician at work.
EVERY topic of conversation will somehow return to her, her life, her family, her friends, her thoughts, her opinions, her experiences… and she’ll even cut people off mid-sentence in order to continue with reinforcing her point :shock:
I think she did go through a kind of breakdown during the second lickdown and although she is markedly improved, I don’t think she is quite the full shilling still. This has made her even more self- obsessed/centred.
I take on more than my fair share of “keeping her busy” (it is supposed to be a 3 department split but hasn’t been since she started to wobble) She has a tendency to talk at me instead of concentrating properly on her given jobs. I have reached the stage now where I will type at my PC and ignore her or finish the job she has been given to do in half the time! I make just enough right noises to appear polite/like I’m still listening.
Why don’t I just pull her up about it I don’t know. Is it her vulnerability? Would she even play the mental health card now if I did? It’s a treacherous path we tread, avoiding hurting others 