National Post

nparts:

Extremely Bad Advice: Sympathetic Earplugs

Dear Steve, Recently I lost my grandfather and it now seems like everyone in my office wants to talk about either his death, anyone’s death, the dying, or a person they know in a hospital. I know that they are showing me they empathize with me but I just want to talk about anything else, and now I’m beginning to feel like they are using my sorrow as a cathartic tool to help with their problems. How can I get myself out from under death’s conversational shadow and back into the light of office gossip?

STEP ONE  Ugh! I hate the “I know how you feel” people! The best way to deal with them is to reverse the situation, quickly. …