Keep Your Brutal Honesty Out of Your Friends’ Romantic Relationships
Sometimes it helps to pause and think before speaking
“My boyfriend never picks up my calls. He’s either with his friends or working on a project. It’s as if there’s no connection between us anymore.”
This is what my friend, Anuja, told me one evening when we were walking around the university campus. She and her boyfriend, Varun, seemed to be having a lot of interpersonal problems. What triggered this particular outburst was how she was expecting him to do something special for their one-year-anniversary, but he was too busy playing a game with his friends even to meet her.
From where I stood, it appeared as if Varun was callous and insensitive. After all, he chose to prioritize a game over spending time with his girlfriend on their anniversary. And especially if Anuja said she didn’t feel a connection with him anymore, I felt the best way out for them was to break up.
“You deserve so much better than him,” I told her. “You shouldn’t be settling for a guy who doesn’t even do anything special for your anniversary.”
This seemed to calm Anuja down, and we spent the rest of the evening brainstorming how the two of them weren’t compatible. She did most of the talking, but I kept encouraging her…
