I DONT want to know what you did last summer!

Why do people tell me things? Actually, it would be much more apt if I express it this way - WHY DO PEOPLE TELL ME THINGS???!!! What things? Things I don't want to know, things that concerns their personal lives, sometimes secrets, basically, things that do not concern me, in any manner.

Like every other characteristic, there are both upsides and downsides of being a good listener. I am in no "goody-goody" mood, so let's leave the upsides for some other time. Let's start with the downsides-
a.) Since everyone knows you for having a patient ear, they assume you like doing it. News flash- not always!
b.) People think you would rather listen than talk. Hello! I would talk if you would just let me!
c.) You end up doing something you never signed up for in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, this frustration isn't directed at everybody. Of course I love to listen to the ones I care about. I actually feel dejected if they don't come to me with their problems! This is directed at the strangers, the acquaintances who make me wish I had a gun. I may spit and spew venom here, but the fact of the matter is when it comes to such people, I am as meek as a poorly fed sacrificial lamb! I take liberties only with the ones whom I know won't take it the wrong way. With everyone else, its just the public face they would love to be familiar with - docile and all ears!

These kind of people range from a classmate who described in detail how he would woo his next target(the narrative included enlightening me with the sher he planned to use) to an ex-colleague who poured out his woes at work, all the petty politics encountered over the years and later on confessing that he liked me. I had known him for a month and apart from the aforementioned one sided conversation, all that had occurred between us was exchange of pleasantries in the morning and evening("Good Morning" and "Bye", to be precise).

What do you do in such situations? How long do you keep making excuses("I am on a call".."I don't drink coffee")? When polite rebuttals fail, what next? If I am going to be used as an agony aunt, I might as well charge them and make it worth the trouble!

Yeah right, as if..