Jan 6, 2012

On family reunions

Happy New Year, everyone! How were your holidays? Did you have a jolly good time?

For many of us, we had a nice Christmas break: a much deserved time away from school or work. This was a time for attending to religious duties, meeting old friends, opening presents, having dinner outs, and partying the night away. The holidays are also a time to head to our provinces to attend family reunions.

Ah, family reunions. It’s probably one of those things eligible gay bachelors who are still in the closet dread every year. Cousins, aunts and uncles whom you haven’t seen for quite some time will be curious and ask how you are. And they will always throw you a variation of one of the following questions:

  • “Don’t you still have a girlfriend?”

  • ”When are you getting married?”

  • “When can we have nieces/nephews to play with?”

You try to deflect the questions and give one of the following canned replies:

  • “I’m too busy with my career to have a relationship.”

  • “I still haven’t found the right person.”

  • “We broke up a while ago.”

And then quickly change the topic and ask them questions.

I’ve had my share of such questions. But fortunately for me, I have an older sibling who is still single so the attention is not fully centered on me. Hehehe. But if the questions would become too persistent, I might joke that I need to move to Canada, the Netherlands, or New York before I can get married. ;-)

How about you? How do you handle curious relatives during family reunions?

11 comments:

Tristan Tan wrote on January 6, 2012 at 12:39 AM:

Move abroad. Come to DC. No reunions, whatsoever. Haha. :)

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on January 6, 2012 at 12:50 AM:

@Tristan, if push comes to shove, why not? :)

 
Mugen wrote on January 6, 2012 at 2:13 AM:

No worries for me. My younger sister will have her second child this month. Everyone knows the family cannot afford the two of us having our own families at the same time.

Besides, I think people know. They just don't talk about it.

 
Anonymous wrote on January 6, 2012 at 4:12 PM:

haha ganun din sana isasagot ko, na sa canada lang ako pede ikasal. pero ang lagi ko nlang sinasagot: me usapan kami ni PNOY na mauna muna siya ikasal bago ako! (sabay halahak! maghalakhakan narin lahat kaya change topic na agad!) kaya nga sana di na muna mag asawa si PNOY! :)

 
Anonymous wrote on January 6, 2012 at 5:58 PM:

Should DC be considered, it would be Tristan and Vince's reunion of sorts, of course, sans the awkward moments.

Then again...

 
Rygel wrote on January 6, 2012 at 8:24 PM:

that's why I'm not attending :p

 
Anonymous wrote on January 6, 2012 at 11:06 PM:

Hayyy... nkaakrelate tlga ako.. Sinasabe ko nlng wla e.. sa itsura mong yan wla pa??? kaya minsan kaht gusto mki bonding sa mga relatives and cousin umiiwas nlang.. :-(

Add me at fb my dear friends
mugs_018@yahoo.com

 
Guyrony wrote on January 7, 2012 at 8:14 PM:

I tell them I don't have time.

And then swirl my eyes and walk away.

Easy, breezy.

 
Anonymous wrote on January 8, 2012 at 12:39 AM:

I love stumbling upon this situation. I always tell them, "I'm busy," and immediately change the topic. Hahaha! It's more difficult if you have 3 brothers who have their girlfriend with them during reunions. Haha!

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on January 9, 2012 at 2:34 AM:

@Mugen, so there are no questions, but is there awkwardness still?

@Anon #1, ano nga kaya nangyayari kay PNoy sa mga Aquino reunions? Hehhe.

@john stan, awkward pa rin. :P

@Rygel, good strategy! :)

@Anon #2, awww. Maybe you can adopt Rygel's tactic.

@Guyrony, and there really has to be a swirl? Hehe.

@Anon #3, that is indeed difficult. :p

 
Anonymous wrote on March 14, 2014 at 5:21 PM:

Late to join the party. Anyway, I always find myself in a similar situation when a relative asks me if I have a girlfriend or why at my age, I am still single. I usually answer, in a respectable way, "ay, bakla po ako. ayaw ko pong mag ka girlfriend." The kills the curious cat out of them.