'Kailan ka ba mag-aasawa?' Expert has a tip on dealing with personal questions this holiday season

With the holiday season approaching, many of us will have family reunions to celebrate Christmas and New Year. Inevitably, these gatherings lead to personal questions that make some of us uncomfortable.

As seen in Dano Tingcungco's report on "24 Oras Weekend," Sunday, Filipinos are familiar with these queries. Questions on marriage, buying homes, and even quips on weight again are quite common when meeting extended family.

So why do people do this? According to Bro. Clifford Sorita, a sociologist, this is because of the Filipinos' friendly and sociable attitude.

"Sa pagiging overly sociable natin, 'yung ating pakikipagkapwa tao, minsan we don't anymore to respect the boundaries between what is private and what is public," he said.

"Ang feeling kasi natin 'yung mga taong kausap natin ka-close natin sila. At dahil ka-close natin sila, ok lang na ganitong klaseng mga tanong ang ating ibato sa kanila."

In addition to this, some people have limited knowledge on the art of small talk.

So how do we deal with these kind of questions? Sorita suggested to zero in on the subject matter to avoid talking about yourself.

"You deflect it by hitting on the topic and not on the person," he said.

As some Pinoys said, they just have to remember that at the end of the day it's their decision what to do with their lives regardless of what other people say.

—MGP, GMA Integrated News