I think it is safe to say that meeting a girlfriend’s parents for the first time can and more likely will be an excruciating. And I say this with all the respect in the world.
Whether her mother made you coffee and even added a biscuit, the meeting is ever so often filled with awkward silences and you never completely know when it will be appropriate to speak and when to honestly shut the hell up.
Say too much and you might be labeled as bombastic and there is always the possibility of saying something stupid like Liverpool sure kicked Manchester butt…but let’s not get into that now.
Obviously you are going to pull together all the manners you’ve ever been taught and might even throw in something about world peace to make a lasting impression. And if asked what you do for a living, you will make whatever mediocre life you follow to seem absolutely royal.
Perhaps I am being presumptuous, but in my mind, I try to be as in place as I possibly can. And I have over the years realized that families are very important to keep any relationship healthy. So if all is peaches in cream to such an extent that I get to actually meet the parents, I am definitely not going to mess it up by wearing my hiking-shoes and trucker hat.
I wish there was a manual to making good first impressions but truth is, it varies from family to family. Something that might be more than acceptable to say to one can ruin a conversation with another.
I remember meeting a girl’s parents a while ago. Everything went smooth as silk until I said something about the service at SARS being terrible. I was getting notches from my girl and her head was swinging around like a balloon whilst trying to get me to skip the subject. Turns out her mother’s an advisor at SARS and my comment was of course not appreciated whatsoever.
On a serious note there is also the possibility that her family are either not fond of homosexuals or complete homophobes. In this unfortunate event it can be quite a nightmare filled with insults and accusations.
We do not want to leave behind our pride in who and what we are but in my opinion it is absolutely pointless to try and convince them to see the world the way we do. Take in account that these people never planned for this when they gave birth to their blue-eyed daughter. Let’s admit that a lot can be said in this field, therefore it might be better not to engage much in this until a stable relationship has been build with the family.
So my guideline to successful parent meeting is as follows:
- Dress like you’re going on an interview (which you are actually doing).
- Look them in the eye but don’t try and be too dominate.
- Get as much info about them as possible…before hand!!
- Be friendly and alert…(no drinking and meeting).
- Save the jokes for your buddies (few parents have the sense of humor that we own…).
And of course if all else fails – Use the World Peace-card…
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