HAVE YOU EVER PRETENDED YOU WEREN’T HOME?

Ha ha – these stats make me laugh – so I’m not alone then? I remember one of my mother’s friends getting caught out – she hid not only herself but her whole family behind the sofa from a friend she didn’t want to see only to have the friend decide to try the back door – so she had a very clear view of the entire family just sitting behind the sofa waving at her – she had to pretend they were playing hide and seek. Not good.

According to a recent study, 78% of Britons have pretended to be out when visitors call with In-Laws being the most commonly ignored. Respondents were initially asked if they’d ever purposely ignored a visitor who had turned up at their house, other than cold-callers or strangers, by pretending not to be home when they arrived at the door, or hiding in the house. The majority (78%) admitted that they had done this. When asked to reveal all of the individuals they had ignored, the most common answers were:

1. In-Laws – (49%)
2. Parents- (24%)
3. Friends – (17%)
4. Co-workers/Boss – (11%)
5. Neighbours- (8%)

When asked about their avoidance methods in this kind of situation, 61% said they simply hid themselves from view (i.e. not being visible through any windows or doors), while 12% made somebody else in the house say they weren’t home.

In addition new research has revealed that almost half of Britons have ended a friendship by ignoring all attempts by the individual in question to get in contact. Gosh – that seems harsh. When asked to reveal why they no longer wanted this friend in their life, the majority (53%) admitted that they’d ‘grown apart’, 22% said the friend had become ‘boring and no fun anymore’ and 16% claimed that they ‘no longer wanted to be associated with them’.

Next, respondents who had purposely ended a friendship were asked to reveal how they’d gone about terminating the relationship. The majority (73%) stated they began ignoring all efforts of communication attempted by the friend, such as texts, phone calls and social media messages; otherwise known as ‘ghosting’. Only 9% of those who’d ended a friendship with someone said that they’d had a face-to-face conversation with the individual in order to tell them they no longer want to be associated with them. Does that make us all cowards? To be honest, I am really shocked to hear that because there is nothing worse than having to slowly get the message by being shut out, rather then by having a face to face conversation and I really don’t think any of us should simply ignore people. It’s mean and also there is no closure.

When relevant individuals were asked to explain if their attempts to end a friendship had been successful, the majority (81%) said ‘yes’ and that they’d not spoken to the friend in question since deciding to phase them out of their life. The remaining 19% said ‘no’, either because they’d changed their mind about ending the friendship or hadn’t been able to get distance from the person.