Dear LFTP: the milk-drinking houseguests
- How do I politely tell my friend that her kids drinking all our milk is taking it too far?
A single parent working 70 hours a week asks how to tell her friend Sarah that she and her two kids helping themselves to endless milk refills is too much. The hosts' answer: buy more milk and be generous, but also just say it directly — even to the kids. The secular answer: ask Sarah to bring a quart of milk with her. A side thread: the 70-hour week itself is the real problem; the kids want her, not the PlayStation.
More on Hospitality
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Dear LFTP: the single man and the holiday cliques
- Would it be wrong for the lonely single man to start declining holiday invitations?
The first Dear LFTP letter: a single man, happy with his life and plenty of friends and family, dreads the holidays — at Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings of 15 to 25 people,…
From No. 603 · Found Out
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Dear LFTP: the inclusive dinner and the autistic boy
- How can I stay inclusive when a new family's severely autistic child disrupts my neighborhood movie night?
Mike reads the first Dear LFTP letter: a single woman hosts monthly inclusive neighborhood dinners and movie nights (kids, dogs, a ramp for an elderly neighbor), but a new…
From No. 600 · Rage The Elephant
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Dear LFTP #2: friends who always bring extra people
- How do we stop friends from inviting extra people to our gatherings?
Mike reads the second letter: dear friends who socialize a lot keep inviting extra people to gatherings at the listener's lake house — including, once, a passed-out stranger ('my coyote fell asleep on the couch').
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Dear LFTP: the $600 lawnmower and buying them a mower
- My nephew's wife took my $600, lied about it, and is avoiding me. Should I say something or let it go?
Mike reads a letter from someone who gave a nephew's wife $600 for a self-propelled lawnmower; she spent it, never bought the mower, and now avoids them.
From No. 587 · Coffee After Sunday