Members in the Media
From: The Wall Street Journal

Friend Fail: When Your Partner Dislikes Your Pals

The Wall Street Journal:

About a year after she started to date her boyfriend, Shanon Leespotted a potential deal breaker: his friends. She saw how much his pals, men and women, drank and cursed, texted crude jokes late at night and canceled plans at the last minute. They seemed to call only when they needed something, such as advice or money, she says.

Ms. Lee didn’t complain to her boyfriend about his friends. Instead, she tried to gently point out their shortcomings. When they’d let her boyfriend down, she would ask, “Do you think this is a problem?” But after one friend asked to borrow $1,000—for a vacation—and her boyfriend ponied up the cash, Ms. Lee offered him an ultimatum. “I gave him the choice to either end the friendship or risk losing me,” says the 39-year-old Web designer.

It is one thing to dislike your romantic partner’s family—we don’t choose our relatives so ultimately they shouldn’t reflect on us. But what do you do if you can’t stand your beloved’s friends, the people he or she has handpicked to hang around?

Read the whole story: The Wall Street Journal

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