A British man was reeling in profound shock today after a work colleague took his routine âHow was your Christmas?â to be a genuine question and answered it honestly.
âIt was horrible,â said Dave Sparrow of Sprattâs Industrial Chemicals Ltd, nursing the cup of hot, sweet tea concerned colleagues had made for him. âIâd asked the question and practically walked away when I realised he was actually answering it. I was so close to getting awayâŚ
âHe said Christmas had been a difficult time for him, since his wife had left and taken the kids with her. Which come to think of it he had told me, I just didnât care enough to remember it.
âI was making frantic signals to colleagues across the room as he told me all about how heâd watched the Kingâs Christmas Message alone in his dressing gown with the curtains drawn, before eating a microwave turkey dinner for one and pulling a cracker with himself⌠They told me later they could see there was something wrong, but had no idea what to do. More likely, they were frightened of getting drawn into the conversation themselves.â
Sparrow said he planned to take the long way round to the toilet for the rest of the week to avoid walking past the manâs desk, lest he try to continue the conversation.
âItâs that feeling of being a marked man,â said Sparrow unhappily. âHeâs got me down as someone whoâs actually interested and sympathetic.
âDoesnât he understand youâre supposed to say something like âIt was nice to see the family, but even better when they leftâ, or just pat your tummy with a laugh and say you ate way too much, when people ask how your Christmas was? You donât actually answer the question, for Godâs sake.â
Image: StartupStockPhotos - Pixabay
