Reader Questions
#479: Trying to be more social when you have serious dietary restrictions
Dear Captain, I’m in a very happy long term relationship. The biggest problem we face is we’re both introverts, and have some social anxiety along with it. It’s hard to make friends, but we’re trying. We’re very geeky, so we’re trying to get involved in geek spaces. Next comes the big hurdle, we have diet […]
#478: RSVP/Invitation Etiquette
Cap’n! I have a question about RSVP etiquette and other people’s family drama. Two other friends (A and B) and I are throwing a baby shower for a third friend (C). We’re inviting friends and any of C’s extended family who live locally and decided to throw it at A’s place, because she has the […]
#477: I have anxiety that women will have anxiety about me approaching them.
Comments are now closed on this discussion. I am leaving this answer (& discussion) here – don’t believe in erasing mistakes or pretending they didn’t happen. But putting it behind a cut-tag for sure. For a better answer to this question, and follow-up from the Letter Writer, go here.
#475: How do I help my lonely husband make some friends? and #476: Tired of the same old college scene
Dear Captain Awkward, Over the last four years, my husband and I have narrowed our social circle to where we only have a few friends who we see regularly, most of whom were initially my friends rather than his. But basically, we’re each others’ social plans almost all of the time. This is especially true […]
#474: How do I get my coworker to shut up?
Dear Captain Awkward, I need advice on how to tell a work friend politely to just shut up. He’s a very nice guy – super friendly and sociable, which is kind of the problem. You see, he is WAY too talkative. He sometimes says things that are completely out of left field, and he tends […]
#473: A gentle breakup is still a breakup.
Dear Captain Awkward, A few months ago I started seeing a kind, wonderful man who I fell hard for, quickly. We had a wonderful time together and he was very involved in planning dates, initiating physical affection, starting conversations, etc. After about a month, before we’d had sex, he told me he was not ready […]
#470, #471 and #472: Correcting Names
Dear Person, My friends have gotten into the habit of calling me by a nickname, which would be wonderful if they had asked first, but otherwise I’m okay with it. The problem comes when they introduce me to people using that nickname, leading those people to think that it’s my real name and so they […]
#467: How do I help my partner communicate better with his family?
Dear Cap’n, I don’t know how best to help my DH. This message follows us having a long, slightly drunk but happy and loving chat about his life. DH’s family history is complicated. His upbringing includes some things which, when we talk about them, he agrees were “probably abuse”, but explains that he’s somewhat normalised […]
#466: Possessive friend is weirding me out/A constructive conflict review.
Dear Captain Awkward, My friend N alternately acts like she feels threatened by me and like she wants to be me. It’s really creepy but I don’t know how to address it without sounding jealous and paranoid. I met her three years ago. We became close quickly, and she had a crush on me, which […]
