People in hysterics at viral 'weird' excuse to get yourself out of unwanted conversations

Without throwing shade at sales people who are just doing their job, when you're heading through the high street in a rush, they're often the last people you want to see.

And the issue is that some of us are just too polite to say 'no' to that persistent and chatty sales guy who is trying to sell you a massage gun.

Why is it always a massage gun?

Anyway, one person has come up with the perfect way to avoid those unwanted conversations - or a lengthy sales pitch, for that matter - and people are in hysterics.

Taking to X, Dan Sheehan opened up about his 'weird', but effective, technique for shutting down an unwanted conversation.

They wrote: "One time a grocery store clipboard guy was going too hard so I said 'I’ve got fish in the car' and the weird level of specificity shut the whole interaction down.

"Now I use it all the time.

"Can’t talk, fish in the car. Works even better if you’re not at a grocery store honestly."

"Works even better if you’re not at a grocery store honestly."

Users were amazed by the 'surreal and almost dangerous' method, as one person wrote: "Brilliant! Fish is definitely more believable than ice cream."

A second person, however, got slightly confused, writing: "It took me way too long to realise that this didn't actually mean *live* fish, which I suppose is another reason why it's so effective."

Some suggested that 'I've got fish in the car' should 'be a t-shirt', while others decided to share some incredible excuses that they've witnessed over the years.

"My dad would do something similar when he'd come to my daughters' softball games when they were little (before they were any good). 'Welp, better go, I have milk in the car'. Always weirdly buying that milk before popping by a granddaughter's softball game," a third wrote.

As a fourth commented: "Lol. ... I used to shut down people wanting to sign us up for cable by saying, 'It's included in the rent'."

"One of those survey takers at the mall once asked a woman near me if she had a dishwasher. 'My husband', the woman said. Survey taker laughed," a fifth revealed.

"This is genius. I just say, 'I'm working.' It's actually true, as it's the only reason I'm walking past clipboard people. They can't tell if it's true or not by looking at me," someone else said.

I'm definitely trying this on my next night out.