Tag: the art of no

#1282: “I want to support my friend without helping him with all his class assignments.”

~ JenniferP

Hi Captain, I am trying to figure out how to still be supportive of my friend continuing on to grad school when I recently had to dropout of my own program due to a lot of different reasons (COVID striking my family, online course-work not being a good avenue for me, extra course-work due to … Continue reading #1282: “I want to support my friend without helping him with all his class assignments.”

#1209: “Is there a way to get good at setting boundaries that isn’t so situation-specific?” (Boundaries School!)

~ JenniferP ~ 365 Comments

Hello, Captain! Could you talk about how to be good at setting boundaries in a non-situation-specific way? You get a lot of letters from people who are having trouble with someone else not respecting their boundaries, and obviously that is not the time to say "are you sure you really communicated what you meant?" But … Continue reading #1209: “Is there a way to get good at setting boundaries that isn’t so situation-specific?” (Boundaries School!)

#977: “I just don’t want to be your friend:” “No thanks!” is NOT mean.

~ JenniferP ~ 279 Comments

Hi Capt, Surely this has been asked before, but I can't find anything this straightforward in the archive. What do you say when someone wants to be your friend but you just don't like them? I feel like at any given time there are a few people in my life who really want to be … Continue reading #977: “I just don’t want to be your friend:” “No thanks!” is NOT mean.

#703: Same Song, Different Day: “Someone told me they don’t want to be with me. How can I change their mind?”

~ JenniferP ~ 182 Comments

Hello, I am a 22 year old male and my crush is a 19 year old. We met by chance a few months back. The first time we had a proper conversation she said that she didn't want a boyfriend. So, I eased on the flirting completely. After a couple of meet ups I started … Continue reading #703: Same Song, Different Day: “Someone told me they don’t want to be with me. How can I change their mind?”

#697 “My narcissistic craphole dad likes to glom onto my achievements. How do I stop him from ruining my next big thing?”

~ JenniferP ~ 217 Comments

Dear Captain Awkward, I'm in my late 20s and have achieved a considerable amount of success in my creative field. I earn a sizable living and have a good reputation in my field both nationally and internationally.  My father and I do not have a very good relationship (short backstory: he is a professor who … Continue reading #697 “My narcissistic craphole dad likes to glom onto my achievements. How do I stop him from ruining my next big thing?”

#694: How do I get out of mandatory corporate yoga retreat and keep my career intact?

~ JenniferP ~ 477 Comments

Comments closed as of 4/27. Dear Captain Awkward, So, if I tell you that when I was in high school, a teacher of mine called off class for a session of “yoga in the dark where no one can see what the teacher is doing” that left me very upset, I probably don’t need to … Continue reading #694: How do I get out of mandatory corporate yoga retreat and keep my career intact?

#689: Did I overreact when my date told me a story about rape and then wanted to get me alone?

~ JenniferP ~ 541 Comments

Dear Captain Awkward, I’m newly single, and getting back into dating. I went on a date last night with a guy I met on OKC. We met up at a bar, and he seemed cute and smart, and as we talked it seemed like we had lots in common! But about twenty minutes in, it … Continue reading #689: Did I overreact when my date told me a story about rape and then wanted to get me alone?

#468 and #469: “Hey, knock it off”, or, Constructive Conflict, Continued.

~ JenniferP ~ 98 Comments

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 … Continue reading #468 and #469: “Hey, knock it off”, or, Constructive Conflict, Continued.