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lightanddark said:
I'm not sure whether this is appropriate or not, but maybe part of the trick is to not interact with people, other than acquaintances, in only one format.

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Thanks, light and dark; that is the issue that is bugging me. I'm sure that I am relating to everyone in a certain way, asking certain questions, encouraging responses, smiling and nodding, and it's me that is doing it.

I think that I use this one format because I lack assertiveness. Maybe I think that they won't hurt me if I behave in this way. It doesn't work though, as I don't follow through, I always have to extricate myself.

I mean, it would be like going through life pretending to be a plumber. Everyone would talk about their plumbing problems, people would ask for quotes, it would be a nightmare. This is the stuff of soap opera.

Here at PC, we are posting for a reason, and that is to support each other, but in the wide world there are many different contexts, as you rightly say.

Thanks

M