How to Answer an Awkward Question
27th April 2012
I spoke with a woman at a recent networking event. After she finished telling me about her children, she turned the conversation to me: “Do you have kids?”
To be fair, the question wasn’t unreasonable; she was searching for a common bond, as people often do at these kinds of events. And maybe I was looking a bit haggard that night.
But this was the first time anyone had asked me that question, and my mind reeled with the possible implications: Did she think I looked older than my age? Was I giving off a maternal vibe? I didn’t know whether to scoff at her question or to make a joke of it, so I did both – and then, worried that I had come across as anti-motherhood, explained that I wasn’t married yet and kids were still a long ways off.
I usually just answer ‘Not that I know of’, but I imagine that, for a woman, that would make an awkward situation even more so. On the other hand, ‘Not any more’ would just shut the conversation down straightaway — if that’s what you’d like to do, which in many cases it might be, I gather.
Actually, the answer is just not to speak to other people, and I’m good with that.