saying no
#488: My friend’s new hobby is grossing everyone out, and, he likes it that way.
Dear Captain Awkward, Things have started getting *awkward* with a good friend of mine, and I need advice on how to handle it. He’s this really quirky guy – I met him through my boyfriend – and since we all have a silly sense of humour we enjoy having a laugh (usually with a good […]
#481: My parents acquired a friend for me (with a gross, moldy congealed side of stalking).
Dear Captain Awkward, My problem boils down to this: can I say no, or do I have to be polite? I’m not a social person. I don’t have friends at the moment. The reasons for that are many –mostly boiling down to living at home again while I look for a job. At school, I had close friends I […]
#480: Post-breakup friend custody with a gross congealed moldy side of stalking
Hi Captain! I’m having a bit of a boundary issue. About six months ago, I ended a one-year relationship that had become deeply dysfunctional. My boyfriend at the time was very depressed, was using drugs, and was by turns distant and emotionally cruel. I still care about him a lot and I know that most […]
#468 and #469: “Hey, knock it off”, or, Constructive Conflict, Continued.
Jolly’s great comment to Monday’s post is going to be very relevant to these seemingly very different questions: “You also don’t necessarily have to bring some of these things up in one big confrontation about The Whole Pattern Of Her Sucking. You could just make a point of standing up for yourself when she does […]
#460: Boundaries are good, even if other people don’t enjoy it when you set them.
This is a very smart post on moving on and setting boundaries with an ex from Jenn Vicious at In Our Words: “There’s this thing that sometimes happens when people break up but still care about each other: they want to continue working on things that were problems in their relationship. Don’t do that. My […]
Cohabitation Situations: Ambivalence Deliverance (#451) & Eviction Prescription (#452)
Before we jump into sad, serious things, Gollum dreamed a dream (of coming to your party?) Courtesy of my friend @spyscribe. You guys watch The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, right? Now, some letters about living situations gone bad (#451) and very, very bad (#452). Dearest Captain, I need some help with relationship ambivalence. It’s been 3 years […]
#444: “Do we hug? Because my feeling is that no, we don’t.”
Hi Captain Awkward! I have a social situation question: What do you do if you don’t want to hug someone, but they want to hug you? This has happened to me about three times in the past 6 months, all with guys. I don’t think they were trying anything creepy, just trying to be friendly […]
#437: Out of the frying pan, into the adjacent teakettle of badness.
Oh Captain, my Captain! I need some help. Last year, I was in an abusive relationship. My ex raped me repeatedly and often manipulated me. When we were together, I became close friends with another guy. Guy #2 eventually owned up to having feelings for me, and I found myself in a very awkward position. […]
#434: Just me and my shadow, trying to network.
Hi Captain Awkward, A few months ago, I met a guy who works in my field through a professional networking event. Since then, I have noticed that he has such a brutal case of White Knight Syndrome that he will actually create Drama just to “save” the women who happen to be in his presence, […]
#432: I’m pregnant, I hate small talk, UGH: A Compendium
Dear Captain, I’m pregnant – yay! It’s still pretty early, but if things go well, I’m on my way to being a big gassy pregnant lady. (Right now I am a small gassy pregnant lady). However, I’m already dreading handsy co-workers who I know will touch my stomach, comment on my weight gain, start referring […]
