General Chat

No........

But I am slowly recovering.

I have stopped sticking pins in voodoooo dolls oiyes!

:-S :-D :-D

Did you pass Prickles :-D

Just got back from my weekly psychiatric appointment.

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Not if you leave Ann :-D


Sheesh I could tell you some stories about the workforce and the wonderful, not, people I have met over the years......but alas they may be looking in and I would like to live just that little bit longer :-D

Glad to hear it Island :-D

susan, even worse if that happens at work as you are there all day every day.

No bitchin' with the stichin' at our group Ann :-D

I worked at a place like that Ann......I was always in hot water for sticking up for the person who had left the room....If they can do it to them, I thought, they could do it to me.......I didn't care if I liked the person or not.....It wasn't on as far as I was concerned......Needless to say....I didn't stop long :-D

We used to have the knit and natter group meet in our garden centre cafe. I was completely put off by how as soon as one of them went out of the room the rest all put their heads together whispering knowingly and, as soon as she came back in the door they started a completely different conversation (no we couldn't hear what was said but body language says a lot!)

You lot have some great anecdotes!

Poor Prickles! I can't imagine anyone not wanting to be your new best friend :-0 :-D

Chris - the dogs mother! :-0 :-0 Our dog was referred to by all in the community as his name plus our surname, so I guess I was the dogs sister!

TS - I was ahead of you in your post, as soon as I read 'I was refused as I was divorced' I thought they saw you as a husband thief :-0 "I'm divorced not desperate" springs to mind LOL

Growing up we were a cut above dontcha know ( :-S ) and shy :-( so mixing with the hoy poloy was a a big no no. This didn't make socialising very easy and I did find it quite a struggle - but I have never been a quitter.
Since moving to an altogether friendlier place I set off to the local 'knit and natter'. After a cautious start the ice was soon broken and it wasn't long before I became 'one of the girls'. No topic of conversation is taboo, we have a good laugh and I even dare to tell the odd norty story. Mother would be horrified :-D :-D :-D

I'm not sure about joining a genealogy group yet ;-) :-D

:-D :-D :-D I know Ann and I'm very grateful to T's help when you are both here. Oh .... and his conversation. See you soon x

Lol Wendy, not worried honestly!!!!

I attempted to join the WI in about the late '70's I was refused as I was divorced, I don't think this rule applies now. Not to be deterred as I only had one child free night a week I joined Keep Fit, this was in the days of black, long sleeved leotards, bare feet and a lot of waving of scarves. After we went to the pub. That didn't last long I then joined the PTA which I loved and we often ended up in the pub. We put on pantomimes and fetes and all manner of social events to raise money for school funds. From there I became involved in the local Ameteur Dramatic Society which also usually ended up in the pub. Can you see a pattern forming? I hasten to add this was only one night a week.

Moving here was the hardest place to make friends. I didn't speak any Spanish and there is only a small ex pat community, it is still very Canarian here and knowing some Spanish, or knowing someone that does is a must. I was given some advice which turned out to be true. This was " you may find that the friends you make here may not be the sort of friends you would have chosen in the UK as there is a much smaller group to chose from. Finding someone with the same interests, sense of humour etc won't be so easy. " I went to Spanish lessons and although still not fluent I can hold a conversation and now have English and Canarian friends

I enjoy conversations with both men and women and have always worked and interacted with both. This was easy when my husband was alive and nobody took any notice but now I sometimes feel that as I'm on my own some wives are a little suspicious of my motives when I engage in conversation with their husbands. One lady as good as told me that her husband was off limits although she made a joke of it her message was quite clear. Someone's else's husband is the last thing on my mind and if that had have been my plan her husband would have been the bottom of my list!

My friend in the UK belongs to a little group that meet one afternoon a week. It is called Knit and Natter. They have tea, coffee and biscuits and catch up on the local gossip. They pay a small fee each week which goes to charity and some of the things they make are sold for charity or sent to third world countries for. children and babies

Oh I have just remembered a group I went to where it was not so bad. This was a mixed group and was a friends of a local Art gallery and museum who met once a month for a talk by various people. The talks were really interesting, I went for about 3 years. The people were pleasant and relatively friendly and the atmosphere was welcoming. It was in one town not far from here but I live in the postal area of the other town. The town it was in was much more up market than the other and some of the people there can be really snobby so when asked where I lived the reply was usually 'Oh....!' However it was ok and I only left when they changed the meeting place and the hearing loop system was not so good for me to hear the talks. (it was a mixed group and the snobby people were women).

:-D :-D Nope Hayley, I just can't ever imagine you being lost for words. :-D :-D <3

How's knitting going Island me dear :-D

I am not unfriendly I love meeting new people and chatting about all different things. Say for instance on holiday I speak to anyone and everyone sometimes people want to be left alone others dont.

when you get a group anywhere there is always one that tries to take over as group leader which often causes confict with others as with group leaders there is always those are take on the role as sheep and perhaps see a newcomer as a threat to their place in the pack and of course there are always some think I just cant be harsed with this. ;-)

It also happens that a few new people join a group & very quickly relegate existing members to the sidelines & make them feel unwanted. This can be as hurtful as not being accepted in the first place.
Why can´t we all play nicely together? :-(

:-D :-D :-D :-D oh dear, I should not laugh but I know of someone who is very much like all those "VIP" you all mention. So full of self importance. :-D :-D :-D

I did join a PTA and it was set up from scratch so we were all in the same boat. We are all friends and welcome all the newbys, imprompu meetings at the local are a good way of breaking the ice.


The worse worse place was when i joined a certain diet and exercise class, oh my goodness, it was the most unfriendly place going, full of women who stood intheir cliques until the class started. Needless to say I didnt go for long!

Teresa

I first started my family tree thirty odd years ago when I joined a WEA class about the history of our village. There was woman there who had to let it be known that she was a history graduate and I couldn't help wondering why she thought to mention that on a course as basic as that one was, or, indeed, why she should want to attend it at all. Attend she did, adopting the role of uninvited consultant to the archivists who were teaching the course.

I was enthralled with my research and, being made redundant soon after the course started, would be in the record office at every opportunity. She was often there but not keen to chat to me about the course as she was doing something "quite different" and presumably far more important than what I was doing.

The Historical Association was offering a few lectures that looked interesting and they were but the HA does have a pretty good selection of self important old beetles at each meeting. Being particularly important was the woman from the WEA class.

A couple of years later my great aunt Em died and who should be there giving out the prayer books and making sure you knew where to sit.

Then, several years later, cousin Edna died and had her funeral at the same church. She now had herself an sort of trainee, a young man to give out the books while the great woman herself, dressed in a sort of monks robe with a bit of rope around the waist, stood behind the vicar and people reading their eulogies.

Ohhhh......I must have nodded off. I was responding to 'tangled up in knitting'

:-0 :-D