And I'm not looking forward to trying to mediate as Ian and Mike hammer out just what needs apologising for from whom.
So refuse to mediate. Tell them they're both adults who can/should sort out their own problems. Even if they're people you care about, it's not your responsibility to fix problems for them.
I guess I'm sorry I didn't see it getting awkward sooner and say something stronger to calm it down.
*nods* - been there, done that countless times. It happens, and the more often it happens the more one learns when one should intervene. On the other hand, everyone else involved was an adult and ought to have been capable of not letting it get that awkward/sorting it out when it did without your intervention.
It's horrible having to tell one group of friends they can't be themselves around another group, and vice versa, or to have to try and justify their behaviour to each other afterwards and know that neither understands what the other is so annoyed by. Perhaps it would have been wiser to try and tell the friends to be careful in advance, rather than hoping it would work out.
Yeah, sometimes warning people to be careful in advance works. Other tactics I find helpful are sitting next to the person likely to be the biggest trouble maker and having 'neutral' topics of conversation up my sleeve so I can inject a change of subject when necessary.
no subject
So refuse to mediate. Tell them they're both adults who can/should sort out their own problems. Even if they're people you care about, it's not your responsibility to fix problems for them.
I guess I'm sorry I didn't see it getting awkward sooner and say something stronger to calm it down.
*nods* - been there, done that countless times. It happens, and the more often it happens the more one learns when one should intervene. On the other hand, everyone else involved was an adult and ought to have been capable of not letting it get that awkward/sorting it out when it did without your intervention.
It's horrible having to tell one group of friends they can't be themselves around another group, and vice versa, or to have to try and justify their behaviour to each other afterwards and know that neither understands what the other is so annoyed by. Perhaps it would have been wiser to try and tell the friends to be careful in advance, rather than hoping it would work out.
Yeah, sometimes warning people to be careful in advance works. Other tactics I find helpful are sitting next to the person likely to be the biggest trouble maker and having 'neutral' topics of conversation up my sleeve so I can inject a change of subject when necessary.