Innaresting Times piece on "destination memory," which allows you-or doesn't, as is more often the case-to remember whom you've told the same old stories to. Apparently, when we tell someone a personal anecdote, we are so self-absorbed in our own thoughts that we tend to forget who we told it to. This explains why you tend to hear the same personal bits from the same people over and over again: They are too busy thinking of themselves to think about you. So you're well within your rights to pretend that you have to go smoke a cigarette or something to get away from them; they'll be back with the same story soon enough.