Crappy Friends

Your friend was great…until she went through some health struggles and can't seem to focus on anything but negativity. Is there a way to adjust course? Plus, one of the best embarrassing personal problems ever!

Your friendship deteriorated, and you're over it…theoretically. But you still run into her, and when you do, she takes up way too much mental space. The Ladies discuss how to break this rumination habit and share their own experiences with the same issues.

It can be a dawning realization…this friend of yours with whom you've shared plenty of good times isn't mentally well. First comes the quirkiness, or the hurt feelings, or the ghosting. Strange requests, asks for more help than you're qualified to give. How do you help a friend in this situation? Should you try? The Ladies discuss, have a rare disagreement and talk about what our roles are when someone is in crisis.

You've been friends for a long time with this life-of-the-party pal, but for the past few years, she's gotten clingier, weirder and more demanding. And now she's preggers. What's your role in this friendship? 

Two letters this episode with a common theme…the letter writer is the piece that doesn't fit. What can one do? Should one even try? The Ladies discuss over a glass of sauvignon blanc.

You've been friends for decades, and you've watched, time and time again, as she shoots herself in the foot with bad choices. Men, money, tattoos…and she vents about these choices to you, but never takes your advice. Honey, the Ladies have been there! Also, another letter writer talks about her quiet life without a superclose girlfriend and how she's pretty dang happy anyway.

You were young. She liked him, he liked you, you liked him, she said sure, go for it and ick. Now you are in a hot mess, mature enough to own how skanky you were, wondering if you can salvage a friendship with a truly good person, despite the past. The Ladies have MUCH to say, and the Princess weighs in with her preternatural wisdom.

It's that time of life when your mom needs more of a social life than she has. Otherwise, it's you on the phone with her sixteen times a day. The Ladies offer suggestions for both parties. 

She's in your friend group…and she goes out of her way to make you feel dumb, invisible or unwelcome. What does a woman do? Outclass her! The Ladies lay out a plan to make you look great and her look exactly how she is: abrasive. 

You were colleagues. Then you got a promotion, she left the company, but it still seemed like you were friends…except she's undermining you from afar. You make some good decisions but still somehow manage to get ground under her heel. The Ladies weigh in, and Kristan changes her mind.

We've all had that friend who needs so much…and it's exhausting. Are you stuck with her for life? Nope! The Ladies give specific instructions on what boundaries are and how to enforce them. 

Work friend getting a little clingy? Not in this case. The Ladies urge our letter writer to call in the big guns and get this dealt with. Also, a letter complaining about texting in friendships and how misleading that can be. Joss discusses intestinal issues and shares a wonderful story about the same.

She was a crappy friend, and you dumped her…but you can't stop thinking about her, and it's driving you crazy. She's taking up way too much of your mental energy, even now. The Ladies discuss techniques on cleaning out your head after a break-up.

You know she'll pitch a fit when she finds out she's not in the wedding party, and you're not happy about it. Hurting someone's feelings goes against the grain, but MAN, you have good reason not to include her. Once again, Kristan's daughter joins in for the Gen Zennial perspective and shares her own embarrassing personal problem.

A juicy letter about a birthday weekend gone wrong in so many ways! The Ladies get all fired up with our special guest, Kristan's daughter, aka the Princess, who provides the youth (ish) perspective. Salty language is tossed around, plus advice on dealing with passive aggressive behavior.

The Ladies lie in this podcast, telling you there are two letters when there are only one. Nevertheless, we discuss what you can reasonably expect in a friendship, when trying to be helpful can backfire and being able to trust that you're enough just the way you are. 

She was your friend and colleague, and you did your best to look the other way at her occasional petty behavior…until she outright stole from you. You're gutted and furious and bereft. The Ladies understand.

You've been frenemies for years, connected by family, location and mutual friends. But whatever you like, she likes more. Whatever you do, she learns to do better. You get a black cat, she gets a black cat. Is there any way to stop her from imitating your life, or at least, any way to stop being infuriated by her copycat ways?

You make a friend. She had a baby. You get preggers. She tells you exactly what to do, see, think, feel…and some of her ideas are whack. She tortures you with her bizarre theories and cult-like devotion to the friend du jour. Nevertheless, you find yourself…missing her.

The Ladies read two letters this week in a burst of enthusiasm and energy! When you've been ghosted by a friend without explanation, is it okay to ask around to get an answer? Also, what happens when you deeply love a friend, but she's become…boring?