Archive: Around Town

Dear Margaret: My husband and I get together with another couple on a perhaps monthly basis and the wife is beginning to drive me crazy. She seems to know EVERYTHING! When it is apparent that she doesn't know about a subject, she makes stuff up and responds with an air of confidence and superiority. She, of course, knows more than me on every subject. She's a bore and I hate being in her company. This doesn't seem to bother my husband. He laughs it off. How can I stop her in her tracks when she does this?
Living with a Martyr
 
Dear Bored by the Know-It-All: The woman is triggering something in you that doesn't affect your husband. Is there a little voice in you trying to goad you by saying that it is true the woman knows things you don't know and it shakes your confidence in yourself? That is something you might want to explore. She might be trying to make you feel small to make herself feel big, and seems to be succeeding.

Here are a few ideas to bring to her attention in a roundabout way that she is full of hot air. When you know for sure she is wrong and making things up, respond with, "You're right again!" That is rather passive/aggressive, but fun. As an alternative, call her on it and research the answer on the Internet on the spot. Seeing less of this couple is an obvious alternative, but if you don't deal with it you'll find this woman pretty quickly in the form of another know-it-all.

The Universe seems to bring situations to us over and over until we learn the lesson.

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