Dear LFTP: Sophie's affair and the business entanglement
- What should I do about my friend's affair, and how do I get out of our shared business?
- Was James Taylor a prophet?
Mike (speaker-1, addressed by name and handed the letter) reads a Dear LFTP letter: the writer's friend Sophie is cheating on her husband with a lover from India, has incorporated him into daily life -- saris, his dance troupe, henna -- and the writer has stayed silent hoping she'll stop. The hosts' advice: stop covering -- 'own up to this, and fix her marriage'; make yourselves less available; if she keeps confiding, confront her. The Secular answer (rendered 'Segular' in the transcript): start by making yourself and your husband less available to socialize with them. A second question: the writer's financial interests are tied to Sophie and her husband -- how to back out of the business: 'Stop talking to them... come up with an economic reason' versus 'Real love is offensive... It has to tell you a hard thing sometimes.' A tangent on turning people in ('I don't wanna feel like I turned my woman over to the authorities'). A James Taylor comedy pivot ('Was James Taylor a prophet?') and a deferred 'Malachites' topic round out the chapter.
More on Marriage
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Dear LFTP: the spontaneous husband and the 7 p.m. date
- My spontaneous husband starts a project at 5 p.m., fails to cancel our 7 p.m. date, and shows up late in work clothes. Please advise.
Mike reads the second letter: a planner wife of two years whose spontaneous husband started a household project at 5 p.m., agreed to cancel their 7 p.m. date, never told the other couple, then showed up 45 minutes late in work clothes.
From No. 601 · Humble Faithful Idiot
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Dear LFTP: the basement musician whose wife never asks him to play
- Am I asking too much to expect my wife to ask me to play, or should I just let it go and stop writing songs?
Mike reads a letter from a married-31-years basement musician and songwriter whose non-musical wife has never once asked him to play — he wonders if he's asking too much or should stop writing.
From No. 597 · Maybe A Word From God
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Dear LFTP: the reluctant grandmother
- Am I wrong to prefer not to drive an hour and a half to visit my husband's grandbabies?
Mike reads a Dear LFTP letter from a 56-year-old married twelve years who doesn't want to drive an hour and a half to visit her husband's grandbabies — she's 'not into babies or children' — and can't understand why he won't stop asking.
From No. 596 · Mr. Prayer Closet
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Dear LFTP: the incarcerated husband
- My husband is serving a life sentence and I have met someone new — what should I do?
- How would you counsel the incarcerated husband who wants to divorce his wife to free her from the marriage?
Mike reads a heavier letter: the writer's husband is serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole, having turned himself in a year and a half ago for a crime from…
From No. 596 · Mr. Prayer Closet