Which way did the train go?

The magazine Readers Digest was on mainstay in our house growing up...it was as close to risque reading we ever got......(seriously, those jokes sometimes were on the edge weren't they?) Anyway..I will never forget this great social trick I learned....

If you are EVER in a conversation that you really don't want to be in but you're just there and you can't escape it ....and you feel your mind wandering.....(will this person please leave me alone?) and suddenly horror of horrors you find they have just asked your opinion and you suddenly have no clue what you were supposed to have been paying attention to....Here is the solution....

First...don't panic.....2nd Look reflective...(stroke the chin...a beard or slight scruff helps here) and then say very slowly........Well , you know what they always say..."You can never tell which way the train went just by looking at the tracks"...

At this point you are off the hook...If at this point they are astute and ask you "What do you mean by that?" you have two recourses....You can tell them you really weren't listening? or you can slowly shake your head and just walk away indicating the conversation is over and you believe they just don't get it....

I have really only used this method once or twice (I really am a nice guy) with some success..

Keeping the beat alive....

Pub..