Dear LFTP: switching doctors after learning private details
- How can I switch doctors without casting aspersions on my current one after learning uncomfortable personal details?
- Does private moral knowledge about a doctor put him in a different category than a tradesman like a carpenter?
A Dear LFTP letter asks how to leave a longtime medical specialist, pseudonymed 'Eric,' after his wife (a close friend of the writer's) shared personal details about the couple's life, now separated — without casting professional aspersions. The hosts advise: medical records transfer easily; the writer overestimates her power to damage his reputation; give a simple, kind, non-detailed reason or none at all. The discussion detours into the Finnish/finishing carpenter joke, whether jerk doctors are preferable, where the moral line sits (infidelity versus violence versus verbal abuse), and whether boycotting a tradesman over private behavior is different from a doctor. The 'secular' answer is read: simply say you prefer to see someone else.
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