Q. My husband and I have just been on a wonderful long weekend abroad to a friend’s 60th birthday. We met lots of lovely new people over the three days and we would really like to keep in touch, but it seemed a bit presumptuous to go around asking for everyone’s numbers. What should I have done?
– A.E., Pewsey, Wilts
A. Many people of your age have already got too many friends and have no room on their ‘books’ for more. However it is quite unthreatening to ask for people’s numbers so that you can ‘stay in touch through Wordle’. Wordle is ideal since – unlike with a Scrabble group – there is no pressure to play. This will provide an opening for future interactions when a space becomes available.
Q. My sister-in-law lives in London – we do not – and she frequently comes to stay for two or three days at a time. For some reason she invariably brings a black bin liner in her car full of her recycling, which she hands me to sort through and put in with ours. I don’t know why she does it – it’s annoying and, I feel, slightly high-handed. I would like a good suggestion as to how I can put an end to this behaviour.
– C.B., Maidenhead, Berks
A. It is no mystery why she does it. If she is staying with you for two or three days, she will miss her own recycling collection. Bringing it to you is more likely to be a casual assumption of kinship rather than a micro-aggression. Google her local recycling centre, then ring her, gasping with excitement, claiming you have just run into a friend of a friend who lives in the next street to her who says there is a marvellous mini recycling centre in (give the address) which is open each day (give the times).
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