Welcome to Ask Clare, our advice column. Have a question, dilemma, or quandary? Send it to Clare in an email.
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Dear Clare,
My sister is really into firefighters. She was all over social media trying to find restaurants and bars offering them deals during the fire. She got all dolled up, went out and ended up bringing a guy home. It bothered me that she was capitalizing on a terrible catastrophe. She’s now collecting donations to go buy food to hand out this weekend in Idyllwild. This is just her trying to get laid. Is it fair to warn the rest of my family not to give her money?
– Sizzling sister
Sizzling sister,
The firefighters would appreciate the food – and perhaps some fun. There is no reason to stop your sister from doing something good even if she’s doing it for all the wrong reasons. You’re not obligated to contribute but it’s silly to warn others not to.
– Clare
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Dear Clare,
My roommate, “Gabe” keeps eating all of the eggs. We all split groceries but he eats like seven eggs a day. Other than that and his obsession with Westwing, he’s a pretty cool guy. It’s frustrating on the weekend when I just went shopping the day before and have all the ingredients for a good omelet except for the eggs. Is it worth mentioning to him? Do I need to resort to writing my name on the carton?
– Sunday crunch
Sunday crunch,
When you get home from the store, take out the eggs for your omelet (and any extras you may want) and put them into a takeout container, a hollowed out cabbage or better yet a bag labeled, ‘MEDICAL SAMPLE.’ You’ll enjoy your Sunday morning meal and he’ll be none the wiser.
– Clare
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Dear Clare,
My neighbor posted something about “trashy neighbors” (my family) on the Nextdoor app. He mentioned that neighbor kids are loud and obnoxious. We’re the only ones next to him with kids. Whenever we interact he’s really nice and we’ve always had a good relationship. We even take his newspapers in when he goes out of town. I’m thinking I should reply to his post. Thoughts?
– Nice neighbor
Nice neighbor,
You can’t be certain he’s talking about your family. You may be overthinking it. While reading those threads can be highly entertaining, avoid Nextdoor arguments to preserve your sanity. Keep being nice to your neighbor – you could even ask him who he was talking about the next time he asks you for a favor.
– Clare
