Honestly you responded like a normal people would if ask where you work.

Living in a dysfunction teaches us to either lie or alter or withhold information because telling the truth puts us in embarrassing or harmful or damaging situations.

But being on a constant alert is exhausting. No one can live like this. You really can’t expect yourself to be on alert at holiday dinner. Don’t beat yourself up or be disappointed. Your response is a healthy and appropriate reaction to people’s questions. You can’t beat yourself up over the fact that those other people might use your info against you.

My dad often accuses me and my brother for being secretive. The thing is we can’t rehearse every answer ahead of time. And lying is exhausting because you have to remember your lies. Yet telling the truth about the most innocent thing could lead to either a fight or some other embarrassing situation. So we avoid providing exact answers . But it’s tiring. It’s draining to say the least

Don’t beat yourself up.