Posted on 03/04/2012 2:22:00 PM PST by geraldmcg
As winter gives way to spring, a number of holiday and other family events—be it Passover, graduation, first communion, you name it—stand before us. And, with them, comes a certain degree of anxiety for most of us, knowing that it means spending some “quality time” with our extended family.
No matter how much we may love them, bringing all those personalities together is an inevitable recipe for tension.
That’s why we can all use a coach like etiquette expert, Marie Dubuque—an unparalleled guru in interpersonal relationships and a wellspring of common-sensibility advice for all of us humans who can’t help but find ourselves in those awkward family situations from time to time.
As a guest on your show, Ms. Dubuque can answer all of your audience’s most common family-event questions, such as:
• How do you handle nosy relatives notorious for asking when you’re going to get a decent job, or lose weight, or get married and have kids? • What do you do when you’re paired up with a cousin or some other relative your own age and you find yourselves in an uncomfortable silence, because you have nothing in common or only see each other once every few years? • How should you handle the elephant in the room when, say, someone in the family is getting a divorce or has a serious health issue? • What if someone in the family apparently doesn’t respect the holiday the way you think they should? If you’re the host, should you still invite them? • What if you’re not the host, and you can’t eat the food being served? • Under what circumstances, when you’re the guest, should you bring a hostess gift or something for the meal? And, if so, what should it be? • How long is too long when visiting relatives? • If you just can’t take it anymore, how do you exit politely?
For a refreshing interview that is both entertaining and uniquely informative, call Special Guests to book Marie Dubuque, author of two new quick-read books specifically related to this topic: Witty Comebacks for Idiotic Insults: Getting Back at the People Who Try to Put You Down and Social Situations 101: From Dodging Boring Cocktail Parties to Dealing with Conniving Relatives.... and Everything in Between.
After your audience gets a sense of how much easier life can be with Ms. Dubuque’s insight, you’ll find they’ll be asking you to have her back again.
ABOUT YOUR EXPERT GUEST, MARIE DUBUQUE:
Certified as a life coach and the author of seven books, Marie Dubuque is your etiquette/social interaction expert. She is based in St. Louis, Missouri, happily married for 17 years, and loves to write and speak about dealing with “life’s tricky situations,” particularly those that couples and dating singles face. She also is a unique specialist with regard to examining “rudeness in the digital age.”
Ms. Dubuque has recently launched a syndicated radio feature that airs on stations all across the country and has written articles for more than 100 publications.
For a wide and diverse sampling of Ms. Dubuque’s etiquette advice, visit her YouTube page at: http://www.youtube.com/MannersByMarie
Or, follow her on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/mariedubuque
© 2012 Special Guests, Inc. bb
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Bring up the time that they got caught with the neigbor girl, trying to get a cat to fit into a half-full paint can. That always breaks the ice. And if you don't have stories like that to tell... Your family is lame.
/johnny
I can’t help it, I’m going to have to apologize to the neighbors for being too loud w/ the laughing.
“Managing the Stress of Big Family Events...How do you handle....”
Xanax
I had a single neighbor years ago, about 30 YO, who was constantly being asked why she wasn’t married. She started responding, “I’ve had so many husbands, why would I want one of my own?”
I try to be polite, avoid politics and feign interest in aunties latest bout of gout. However, coming from a family loaded with NEA-bot teachers and ecumenical liberation theology type do-gooders, the feathers soon start to fly. Even though I try real hard to be a nice doggie and lay down by my dish some clown always come along and starts pulling on my ears. Oh well . . .
Since my family is very small and don’t particularly like me, it is only the inlays I need worry about. I’ve found that a nice corner, a frozen smile / blank expression and a pint of Makhong whiskey works nicely.
I don’t see the problem. You walk in, identify the troublemakers and crack a few heads. Problem solved.
hahahahaha . . . oops I am not suppose to be laughing at this . . . f- it! hahahahahahaha!
No stress at all. We’re mostly ex-drunks and have plenty of funny stories about each other. No big egos here.
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