Polite conversation....

Visitor: "But Mr. Smade, my interest in your personal background is just a way of making polite conversation with yourself, my esteemed host."

Smade: "I appreciate your effort for politeness Sir, but it's my intention to have the Tavern as a focal point for my guests, not my person..."

At which point Smade decided that the polite conversation had ended and started grooming the bar and instructed one of his sons to look after the fire in the parlour.

- Clipped from "Life Beyond", by Robert Budrack, freelance editor and writer