Dear Queenie,

One of my pet peeves is when people I only know casually pull out pictures of their children or grandchildren or pets and expect me to listen to long stories about how cute and intelligent they are.

I don't mind taking a fast look and saying politely how cute or intelligent they look, but I don't want to spend more than a minute on it. But they go on and on and on, and it's totally boring. It's not as if I know any of them.

Queenie, how do I change the subject without being rude?—Bored stiff

Dear Bored stiff,

If you have children, grandchildren or pets you can reciprocate in kind (I hope you don't normally bore people the same way you complain about being bored).

Or you can have an urgent "call of nature," excuse yourself to go to the restroom, and take your time about coming back.

Or you can say something like, "How cute!" and immediately start talking about some other topic that you – and hopefully everyone else in the group – find more interesting.