This past weekend I was caught in multiple unending conversations with family members who spend too much time listening to cable news and talk-radio. No matter how much I tried to just end the conversation, they took it as a sign to keep trying to convince me that my views were wrong.
For example, if I stopped engaging and simply said “okay, got it” or just nod my head, they felt like I wasn’t listening and would try to engage more. If I simply went with the good old “Can we just agree to disagree on this?” they’d say that it’s objective truth and keep ranting.
Since it’s family, I do want to preserve the relationship but I also don’t want to simply give in and acknowledge that their narrow minded views are correct. Is there a third way?
**TL;DR** : How do I end a conversation with a family member congenially without giving in that their views are right (I do not agree with them) but without adding fuel to the fire?
3 comments
You can’t end conversations politely because they don’t WANT them to end.
Even if you agreed, they’d take it as an excuse to keep talking details and sharing their angle on it.
You can try changing the subject, but you don’t really have a lot of wiggle room here. As long as you’re in range, they’re going to rant.
Did you try radically changing the conversation? “I hear you. How about those Mets?”
Hey Just tell them you love them and politics is not your focus at the moment