Understanding inappropriate topics of conversation

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Over the past few days it has become apparent to me that someone I know can't tell what's an appropriate thing to say in conversation and what is not. Just because something is true or is interesting to you doesn't mean you can just say it to people.

I tried explaining why a black person will not want you, a white person, to comment on their facial features. I don't think I explained it clearly enough. This person now thinks "you can't say anything to anyone these days". When I explained that people just want to be left to get on with things without attention being drawn to them. They took it to mean everyone just wants to be ignored and be unfriendly.

Argh!

Did I explain this badly? It seems obvious to me why you shouldn't point out people's facial features. I get a bit irritated when people ask me if I'm Italian. Yes, thanks for drawing attention to the fact that I look different to the general population around us... Not.

I'm not actually Italian anyway.

When you point out something people have been bullied about they're going to go on the defensive.

My ex boss had a glass eye , and I was fascinated by it lol I asked him questions about it and he had funny stories about it too. Other people thought I was being inappropriate but my boss was fine about it , calling him cyclops in jest might have been where I crossed the line though

that malignant overgrowth attached to your face is very becoming . this might be a backwards way of commenting on anoithers appearance . And may not be appreciated .

I also knew a girl named Molly and she had a large facial mole , it took an enormous amount of effort not to call her "Moley" , it was like trying to suppress a sneeze.

I had to learn appropriate topics of conversation “the hard way.”

When I was 15, I commented on a young girl’s mustache. I also told a girl who was bothering me that she’s acting like she’s having her period.

Throughout my childhood, my family was very vigilant as far as I “not saying the wrong thing” was concerned.

Oh, since we're confessing things I told a very ill and large lady that she was fat in a shop when I was a kid. My Mum gave me a rollicking once I was dragged out of the shop by the scruff of my neck. It was common knowledge that this woman was ill. Child me didn't know.

That's probably why I'm careful about what I say to people in public places.

Ah ha. The penny has dropped for me here. That's why what my friend said to the woman we met bugged me and I had such a strong reaction.

I once asked a person in the street why is she fat? I was also fat at that time.

To this day, my brother is super paranoid that Im going to say the wrong thing in front of people. Ironically, he’s the type to arrange to fight people from the Internet.

I got in trouble with other Celtic fans for saying 'well actually [famous criminal from my home town] was a Celtic fan'. You're not meant to be honest if it makes your own side look bad.

I got in trouble for breaking a silence by saying 'I think we should remember the people they killed instead'. You can only do that in certain places - basically if a group disrupts. It's better to just think it in your head & keep silence for those people. A lot of people just think the silence is for world war 2 anyway, and it would take a scumbag to be against those heroes.

When I was younger if someone would point out my height by giving me a kid's menu or something (I always looked young for my age) I thought it was a personal attack, so I'd insult their looks right back at them. Or when I was 18 and asked for alcohol I'd say 'I'm 18, just because I don't have wrinkles like you doesn't mean I'm not an adult'.

I was in a corner shop in my teens & I didn't know who was serving. I'd just come back from holiday where all the sweets which weren't local were really expensive. I made the mistake of saying 'I'm glad I'm back in my own coutnry so I've got cheap British sweets back'. Mum told me that was rude because the guy behind the counter was Asian. Tbh I still don't get that one? Guy wasn't born abroad (I think - he had a local accent), he just had brown skin?

I made the mistake of telling an American behind a counter that I found American dollars hard to understand as they're all green. He kept $10 to himself. I gave him a $20 for something that cost $10 and he kept the change Never admit to anyone behind a counter that you find the money hard cos they might rip you off.