When fear of over-committing meets terror of letting other people down, that's where you'll find me and way more than one of you, if my inbox is any indication.
Category: communications
#1333: Multi-Level Marketing Cults & Performative Friendship
How to plot the accumulated costs of "useless objects" vs. "pointless arguments" over time?
#1331 and #1332: Awkward Neighbor Stuff!
Good fences continue to make good neighbors, metaphorically and literally.
#1329: “Is this ever going to work out in my favor?”
When someone says "I don't have romantic feelings for you," take them at their word.
#1327: “My best friend’s other best friend is The Worst. How do I free myself without losing my friend?”
Sometimes when you stop trying to make yourself like someone, it's easier to keep the peace at parties.
#1324: “I moved out of a terrible roommate situation two years ago, but our mutuals won’t stop trying to ‘make peace.'”
"I hated living with them so I moved the hell out. What is there to 'mediate?'"
#1323: “People keep using a filler-word that bugs me and I want to not care.”
"This bugs me" doesn't equal "This is wrong," and this Letter Writer gets that. 🙂
Crossover: Ask A(n Awkward) Manager
Sometimes Alison at Ask A Manager and I like to answer questions about workplace awkwardness together.
#1316: “I finally have a friend and my wife is jealous.”
Feelings (jealousy, discomfort, biphobia) clean-up in Aisle 7.
#1315: How do I tell acquaintances about a death in the family without sounding dramatic?
When you want to share an extremely mood-ruining thing (death of a parent) without ruining the mood: Be brief and direct, and let other people be nice to you for a minute.