Dear LFTP: the intrusive neighbor
- How can a private couple discourage an intrusive neighbor without seeming rude?
A listener letter: a very private couple's new neighbor keeps dropping by seeking a social relationship, and they want to decline without seeming rude. The hosts advise blunt honesty over performative niceness — 'I'm all friended up... I'm not accepting friend applications right now' — arguing the neighbor will find friends next door anyway. They roast the 'Secular' answer's suggestion to redirect her to community programs ('We don't like you, but there's a community center down the road'), riffing on the Masonic Temple, the Elks lodge, and historic caves, and close with a coda about never retiring lest they become the 85-year-old Walmart greeter.
More on Boundaries
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Dear LFTP: the mother-in-law moved in
- My mother-in-law moved in seven months ago and it’s been difficult — how can we sort this out?
The last letter comes from a wife whose mother-in-law moved in seven months ago with no boundaries, rising bills, unpaid prescriptions, and open disrespect.
From No. 604 · Rearview Mirror
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Dear LFTP: Ralph calls three or four times a week
- How can I get my retired friend Ralph to call less frequently without being rude?
The letter: 'Ralph,' a longtime best friend, retired and is bored, so he calls three or four times a week 'even when there's nothing new to talk about,' rehashing the same things; subtle hints haven't worked; letting it go to voicemail just earns a callback request.
From No. 602 · Relationship Counseling
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Dear LFTP: the senior-living handshake letter, and the close
- How can a senior-living resident politely decline the dining-room manager's handshakes?
Mike reads the second Dear LFTP letter: a senior-living resident whose dining-room manager (Manny) shakes hands at residents' tables, and who dodges with wet or greasy hands — how to decline politely?
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Dear LFTP: the fiance who games until 5AM
- What should the letter-writer do about her fiance's all-night gaming habit?
Mike reads a Dear LFTP letter from a woman engaged five years to Dustin, who games from 10PM to 5AM, skips chores, and gives her no attention; talking has not helped since 'he grew up gaming.'
From No. 598 · Emphasis | Accountability, Worship and Praying with Strangers