Steemit.Chat Contest #17 + Contest #16 Winners Announcement!

The 16th contest was about sharing the most difficult conversation you've ever had. There were some good entries and I’ve picked out a few as winners.

The 16th contest had to be extended beyond the usual timelines. I'm traveling a lot more now due to the meetups I’m conducting. I felt that instead of running a rushed up contest late last week, it would be good to wait until today to come back to the regular schedule.

Congrats to these Steemians who won Contest #16:

1. @hardikv - My son just turned 4 years old. On his birthday after the party was over, I was putting him to sleep with a story.
   Suddenly he asked me: “ Dadda, when am I going to die?”
   This took me by complete surprise and I was at a loss for words for almost a minute. Being the energetic kid he is (and probably high on sugar with all the birthday cake and chocolates he ate), he asked me the question 5 more times during that minute.
   I finally said: “When you grow really old.”
   Then he asks: “When are you going to die?”
   Now I kind of had a direction: “When I am really old.”
   He asks: “Amma will also die?”
   And I say: “Everyone dies when they grow very very old, beta.”
   And then I had to distract him with a story.
   I have no idea who put the thought in his head, and you can’t really talk logically to small children. He doesn’t really know what dying means. He is repeating something he heard from somewhere and I think it’s best to treat it like any other normal question and give a simple answer without attaching the weight that comes only after you become an adult. But the child doesn’t need to know that, yet.
   You can never really be prepared to be a parent. It’s always learning on the job.

2. @onenecha - My most difficult conversation happened few years back as a teenager. I was in a friend's house dinning with her parent when suddenly (at this time, she and her mom had left for the kitchen) her dad started asking serious questions;
   Her Dad: So what's the deal between you and my daughter?
   Me: We are just friends, em best friends.
   Her Dad: are you just friends or best friends?
   Me: (looked confused) we are friends
   Her Dad: I see, where do you see this friendship in the next five years?
   Me: em em
   Her Dad: (he cuts in) or don't you have plans?
   Me: Sir. I do. I just...
   Her Dad: you don't sound confident.
   The conversion went on like that to the point where he asked; "Have you had sex with my daughter?" Then I was really mute. I felt disappointed in myself. This was really difficult for me because I was not prepared to face him. He wasn't supposed to be in town that day,

3. @xhunxhiss - When I was in high school, my parents told me not to salute the flag and sing our national anthem, "Lupang Hinirang". Back then, our school was under a Catholic System Education and the priests strictly required all students to attend the flag ceremony and sing the national anthem every morning.
   One day, my teacher tasked me to lead the beating of the national anthem for the next morning. I shook my head a few times and barely said no. She looked at me suspiciously and asked, "Are you a Jehovah`s Witnesses?" I trembled. My innocent eyes met her eyes but I could not answer her.
   I wanted to say something but her words already stabbed me with fear. I turned my head away and took a deep breath. It was easy to lie but I knew, she will be going to find out the truth about our religion, sooner if not later. I stood in silence for a couple of minutes. At last! I found myself able to speak what in my heart. “I am not but my parents are one of them. “ I softly said.

4. @camillius - The most difficult conversation I have ever had was with my lecturer in school.
   That fateful day, she came to class for her period which lasted for two hours taking us on the topic PHOTOSYNTHESIS. After the lecture, she asked if any of us has a question to ask; then I raised my hand and asked her with smiles on my face "since photosynthesis is the process by which green plants manufacture their food, what of those plants that are not green in colour?". Instead of answering my question, she said am stupid and asked me in return "what is the difference between green plant and plants which are not green? " I answered her confidently saying "chlorophyll" she asked again "what is the difference between chlorophyll and xantophyll?" this time around I started looking like a dummy, before I could utter a word, she asked again what if the difference between "xantophyll and carotenoid?" trying to give her an answer though I wasn't sure, she asked again, what is the difference between carotenoid and chromoplast. This time around she had succeeded in making a fool of me, I just stood there in class looking down while my classmates were looking at me with the "I pity you" look

5. @rosemaryekanem - At the hospital bed with dad that evening, I had tried all I could as a nurse, he was brought to our hospital from his workplace on that Monday morning. Dad was said to collapse at work, much investigations revealed his blood pressure was so high that he collapsed earlier that Monday morning. He remained in coma for over 12 hours, it was a trying moment. Few minutes to ten that night mum called to ask if I had seen dad as he never returned from work since morning. I told her yes that dad was with me at my house and all was well. Dad died at few minutes to 12am. I cried my eyes out but he would not come back. The most difficult thing was how I would break this news to mom who had become so restless and worn out. I didn't want another calamity, no not at that trying moment. I got home early the following day, paced up and down for minutes trying to find a way to spill the terrible news. It had to be said anyways but the question was "how?"

6. @thot2word - The most difficult conversation I've ever had. The day I had to break up with a guy who wasn't even my boyfriend in the first place. First let me state that 25 minutes out of the 30 minutes we spent talking was total and utter silence. I called to ask why he was being distant towards me. I wanted to ask if I had done something wrong. He responded that I didn't do anything and he just wanted to be on his own. I didn't know what that was supposed to mean because it's not natural. I asked him if he was sure and I assured him that he could tell me anything. I wouldn't feel bad. He proceeded to tell me that he had caught feelings for me and he was trying to distance himself because he wasn't sure I felt the same way. I told him after a very long silence, in a shaky voice that I felt the same way but I respected our relationship as friends and pushed them aside because I wasn't ready for a relationship. He didn't seem to understand that and he said as much. To cut the long story short, one of us had to finally start the dreaded sentence of break up. I started with, I think we really should separate because it seems it's for the best. But I believe We should separate amicably and not like before. He agreed with me. After another long silence, I hung up the call and had my first short real cry over a boy🙈. We are still friends till now though

Congratulations to the winners and @vdux for contest idea suggestion. Cheers!

Contest #17

Let's get on with the 17th contest and it’s quite simple. I'm sure many of you will participate in this. We’ll run this in the official contest channel on Steemit.Chat.

Share your experience!

1. 1 Entry per person.
2. Please answer this: What is the weirdest thing you’ve done in your life? - Keep responses below 200 words.
3. Post a single comment in steemitchat-contest channel with your entry.
4. You have until the next Monday till this post pays out or my announcement in the channel closing the contest (whichever is earlier).
5. There will be 5 winners who will get 10 Steem each sponsored by the new management of Steemit.Chat aka @followbtcnews.
6. Multiple entries will lead to disqualification so kindly post a single comment in the chatroom!
7. Contest will take place in steemitchat-contest channel on Steemit.Chat.

You are also welcome to drop more Steemit.Chat contest ideas in this post or in the contest channel and you may get some SBDs if your idea gets selected for a future contest.

Let contest #17 begin!

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If you like my work kindly resteem it to your friends. You may also continue reading my recent posts which might interest you:

1. Let's Watch This Fun Video From India Steem Meetup #1—Jaipur Edition!
   
2. Let's Watch This Fun Video From India Steem Meetup #2—Bangalore Edition!
3. India Steem Meetup #4—An AWESOME Meetup In New Delhi—India's Capital and 40+ Attended!

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