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1500 questions
14
votes
3 answers
How do my wife and I get her mother to stop buying stuff for us?
For years, my mother-in-law has purchased a huge number of holiday gifts for us. This is frustrating because at other points in the year, she'll ask for small loans ($500-$1000 or so) to pay for necessities.
The other frustrating part of this is…
Kulahan
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14
votes
1 answer
How best to come out to socially conservative (and religious) family members?
Some background:
I have a small number of close family members, and all of them (apart from my siblings) are socially conservative (ranging from quite socially conservative, to very socially conservative).
About half of these close family members…
John
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13
votes
4 answers
How to stop my ex wife from pressuring relationship between our son and my new partner
About five years ago my wife Laura and I got divorced - we kept it quite civil and even now our relationship is quite friendly. We also have a son, Steve, currently 10 years old that spends 3 days a week with me.
My ex quite quickly remarried a guy…
Yasskier
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13
votes
6 answers
How to nicely remind someone to reply to an important message without being rude?
I have an appointment in another town, I asked a friend if I could stay the night at my friend's place through a text message. I would like a response from this person so that if I cannot stay at my friend's house, I can rent a hotel room. Normally…
OmamArmy
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13
votes
5 answers
How should I communicate with someone who ignores sound advice from people who make her feel bad
My wife and I have been married for over 10 years, and I have gradually come to realize that she often shows poor judgement based on personal feelings about a person rather than factual information. Here are some examples:
A financial advisor hurt…
drz
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13
votes
4 answers
How do I improve the quality and smoothness of my reactions in social interactions, without having actual conversations?
Especially with new coworkers I feel arrested for words as greetings and chitchat begin. Like I lack an entire chapter of some phrasebook that everyone else seems to have internalized. Monday mornings are really hard for me.
A recent example,…
Andrew Cheong
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13
votes
4 answers
When is it more suitable to say "no problem" versus "you're welcome"?
Most times, when I am thanked - I respond using no problem rather than saying you're welcome. I find it more habitual for me to say the former than the latter.
In terms of a societal standpoint, are there people out there who prefer one of the two…
Robert Dewitt
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13
votes
4 answers
What is the politest way to follow up on an ignored email?
I send a lot of emails - some important and some not. I often get replies for the important ones promptly, but the less important ones can often be forgotten.
I understand this - I'm sure I do the same sometimes.
This specific case is me emailing a…
Tim
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13
votes
3 answers
Girlfriend's sister's boyfriend talking excessively to my girlfriend
I'm in a long-distance relationship with Alice, and recently, her sister, Betty has started getting very serious with her boyfriend John (talking about marriage and the like). Alice has met and talked to John before on multiple occasions, but…
SomeoneElse
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13
votes
3 answers
How to communicate to strangers that we don't want our children to believe in Santa Claus when they ask them?
My wife and I have small children who are finally old enough to realize that December is a special time of year (ages 4 and 2). For a myriad of reasons my wife and I have decided we won't present "Santa Claus" to our children in the traditional,…
Austin T
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13
votes
5 answers
How can I express disappointment while still being supportive of partner quitting smoking?
Background
I met this girl, who we'll call Alice, about two years ago, and we have been casually dating for the past 2-ish months. She has been an off-and-on smoker for a handful of years, and when we first met, it was during an 'off'…
Jess K.
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13
votes
3 answers
What's the polite response to being informed you've told the same thing more than once?
Background
I am quite a forgetful person and will frequently tell the same story, or make the same statement, more than once.
This usually occurs when I will see or hear something and that will trigger me to say whatever it is that I am thinking.
An…
BritishWerewolf
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13
votes
5 answers
How can I explain why I declined someone's Facebook friend request without offending them?
Recently, I got several friend requests on Facebook from people I sort of knew in middle school. We went to different high schools, and so I haven't talked to them in five years, as I've just finished my first year in college.
I prefer to keep my…
HDE 226868
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13
votes
8 answers
How to tell other people that my job is only a job to me?
I don't know if this question may be confusing to some of you; so I will try to explain myself as well as I can.
I have been interested in informatics and technology all my life. When I was young I started learning how to code. I spent time…
Xeng Garcia
13
votes
5 answers
Is it impolite to not use a religious honorific when speaking to a religious leader?
There are occasions when I have discussions with religious leaders (clergy and otherwise) of various faith groups. Titles such as reverend and rabbi, are generally applied to such individuals. My question is less about their "official" titles, as…
r m
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