Ask Amy: Daughter-in-law is a ‘second chance’ skeptic
Several of the friends I’ve made are on the association board.
After I began making complaints about the business, I haven't been invited to any hangouts with the group.
I definitely don't want to be friends with people who are so willing to drop me because of my personal opinions about this business.
I have thought about asking the two neighbors that I do talk to regularly why I haven't been invited to hang out, but I don't want to seem desperate.
I'm genuinely curious about why they seem to have dropped me.
These friends have no problem asking me for a favor when they need something, but I feel like I have been pushed out of the "group.”
It is hard to make new friends at my age. Should I ask or just move on?
– Conflicted Cohort
Dear Conflicted: Asking people “what’s up” is not desperate – it is proactive.
neighborhood associations are meant to be community-building groups, but these associations can also become hotbeds of conflicting loyalties. Someone within your friend group may have a long-standing connection to the business you have complained about and they are expressing their loyalty by keeping some distance from you.
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