When to give someone bad news

[Ood Sigma]

When do you find is the best time to give someone bad news? When they're already in a good mood, or a bad mood?

One the one hand, if you tell them when they're in a good mood, they're more likely to take the news better. On the other hand, you've ruined their good mood. If you tell them when they're in a bad mood, you run the risk of things escalating out of control, but at least you're getting all the negative feelings over and done with.

This, of course, presumes that you care how the person is going to take it. Perhaps it depends on the nature and/or severity of the news, the disposition of the person you're informing, and even how much you personally care for them (i.e. whether it's your SO, a friend, or a co-worker).

What is your preference? Any examples of times where you made the right (or wrong) decision?

 

[Kestra]

I like to do fake-terrible news first so the bad news doesn't seem as bad in comparison.

 

[Ood Sigma]

I like to do fake-terrible news first so the bad news doesn't seem as bad in comparison.

Sounds like a page from Michael Scott's playbook.

 

[SicOne]

Tell people that they're fired on Thursdays so they feel semi-good about having a three-day weekend (assuming they're gonna hit the bricks looking for work on Monday and not crawl into a bottle).

Tell people they have cancer on Monday so they can seek medical information during the week when everyone's working.

Tell your wife you banged her sister in the walk-in pantry right before she takes a flight out of town for the week so you have time to bang her sister unhurriedly and correctly and well, and so you have time to find a new place to live and hide your stuff. Wait until after the judge issues the divorce decree to tell her you gave her chlamidiya courtesy of her slut sister.

("Kiss me, kiss me!", her sister told me in the pantry, while I was banging her while my wife was making breakfast in the kitchen. "Hell, no." I said. "It's bad enough we're doing THIS!")

Tell your conquest of the night that you forgot to put a condom on after you ejaculate so she doesn't shove you off her and interrupt your rhythm and flow.

Tell your buddy you've got the $100 you owe him in your wallet right after you're both held up by a gunman.

And most important of all, tell the cop "Fuck YOU!!!" AFTER you're out of taser range.

Hope this helps.

 

[Joshua Howard]

Drop the bomb as soon as you're in range. Thinking about it will only make it worse. The second you get the bad news, go share it with the victim as soon as possible in as direct a manner as possible. If there is risk of violent eruption as a result, make sure you make the communication via phone. Waiting for the right time to give someone bad news is like circling around contemplating the best time to drop a nuke on Hiroshima. The longer you wait, the more stressful it becomes.

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

I just flat out say it. I've never been good at those types of situations and everyone that knows me knows how blunt i am.