Making friends is the easy part. You meet them when you’re in your school bloomers or at the tapri in your new office, you spend months getting to know them, you have a million personal jokes by the time a year rolls by and then you’re thick as thieves.
But what happens when something threatens to blow that friendship right out of the water? A situation you can’t handle or have no way of knowing will descend upon you. Well this is what you can do to make the situation disappear.
1. If you see their boyfriend/girlfriend cheating on them.
What to do: Don’t be the person to tell them without any ground to stand on. Just remember this a person they are in love with, it isn’t about who they believe, it’s their whole world, So instead figure out how you can show them visual proof.
2. If their significant other hits on you!
What to do: First of all turn them down big time. Secondly they will surely tell you either of these things ‘Don’t tell my girlfriend/boyfriend’ , ‘I was kidding’, or they will simply tell your friend that you hit on them. To avoid all this, tell your friend in front of the boyfriend/girlfriend exactly what happened. So he/she has no escape.
3. When they are making the wrong decision and you know it.
What to do: Tell them why you think it’s wrong and the consequences, tell them what’s a better solution or approach. If they don’t listen, tell them one more time, but if they are set on it then let them go ahead and do it. Because no matter what, we all learn from our own mistakes. Don’t fight or ignore them, support them when things go bad and never say ‘I told you so’.
4. When you’ve abused their ex boyfriend to them and they get back together.
What to do: It happens more often than not. Acknowledge that their ex has changed and he’s turned a new leaf and that’s why he’s being so attentive. Support their relationship as much as you can so that, she forgets whatever you said in the past.
5. When they put you in the middle of a fight
What to do: If the other person is someone you don’t care much about then support your friend one hundred percent if they are right. If they are wrong just step away and say you don’t have all the information to be the judge of this. If the other person is also your friend then get them to calm down and tell them that they’ve both made a mistake but it’s not irreparable. So instead of taking sides or backing off, you’re the one resolving it.
6. When you have to ask them for money they owe you.
What to do: Don’t pester them but don’t let it go. The best way to deal with it is to put it to ask them to cover your bill since they owe you anyway, so there is no exchange of money, they’ll just pay for your meal or the next trip. It could take a while to recover it this way, but it’s way less of a pain.
7. When you try to be their wingman and the target likes you instead
What to do: Well, you don’t go out with them to start with, unless your friend encourages you to. Instead you tell them sayonara and walk back, because flirts will come and go but your best friend might beat you to a pulp.
8. When their clothes are all wrong.
What to do: If it’s just a bad combination, you try to suggest, ‘Hey, I love your black top it would look so good on this skirt’. But if it’s a malfunction, like boobs spilling out of wrongly fit bra, then you tell them like it is, they might be embarrassed but they’ll thank you later.
9. When they’ve overstayed their welcome and you just need your own space
What to do: After you’ve been the perfect host and you can’t keep it up anymore, it’s better to drop a couple of hints. How your boyfriend hasn’t come over since forever because you have a house guest or that you need to get used to living on your own and them being there all the time is sort of getting in the way of that.
10. When they’re dating your ex
What to do: This one is really tricky. Now that they’ve fallen in love with your ex, you need to make peace with it. Don’t get mad. instead act like it’s the most natural thing ever. If it’s really difficult, it’s better to keep your distance from them as a couple, but then once you get more accustomed to it, tell them that you support them.
11. When they say something hurtful
What to do: let them know that was below the belt but don’t dwell over it, 9 times out of 10 they don’t mean it.
Cherish your friendship and don’t let little things get in the way, after college it’s an uphill battle to make awesome sauce friends.Â