Dear Mary… | 3 June 2006

Q. A colleague and friend and I have been particularly close since she ‘saved my life’ ten years ago, having arranged help for me during a medical emergency. But since my retirement a year and a half ago, my attempts to meet for lunch have been fruitless, the last time particularly upsetting when she slept through our arranged noontime rendezvous. My feeble attempts to remind her of her promise to make it up by regularly forwarding humorous emails were brusquely rebuffed with a singular response several months ago, with no contact since. Now out of the blue I’ve received — surely at my friend’s guidance — an invitation to her daughter’s graduation at a prestigious university hundreds of miles away. I have no special relationship with the daughter, although I’ve had casual acquaintance with her over the years. I am not expected to attend, but I am sure they expect a gift. I feel that my fast-fading friendship with her mother is being exploited. Should I send a gift as if everything were normal, apply a pensioner’s discount, or treat this invitation in the way my own have been — by ignoring it? I am always conscious of stooping to a level of behaviour which offends, and would prefer to retain my dignity. Your assistance is eagerly awaited.
Name and address withheld

A. Veiled within your query is the true problem: ‘has my friend gone off me?’ Probably not. More likely she is paralysed by the modern plague of social swamping. One effect of the global village is that people have bonded with too many other people. They can keep up with much-loved friends no more easily than they can process the emails, newsprint and fascinating literature flooding in on a daily basis.