20060802

A Frustrated Friend
When is it OK to say no to a friend?
August 02, 2006

decision 2

Chris: I feel like my friendship with Mike is becoming one-sided. I don’t mind doing favors for him . but I wish he would help me sometimes, too.
Alyssa: Why doesn’t he? That seems kind of selfish.
Chris: He doesn’t mean to be. I’m sure he doesn’t realize he always says no to me. He just tries to do too much, so he doesn’t have any time left over.
Alyssa: Well, do you really have time to do all these favors?
Chris: I guess so. I might as well keep doing favors for him. It doesn’t really hurt, and after all, he is a good friend.
Alyssa: And you’re a good friend, too.

Decision 3

Chris: I just can’t keep helping Mike when he never has time to help me.
Alyssa: So are you just going to stop helping him?
Chris: No. But I think we can make a deal. If I do a favor for him, he’ll have to do something for me in return.
Alyssa: Hmm. That sounds more like a business deal than a friendship.
Chris: I know. But it will be good for Mike. He needs to realize that he really takes advantage of people.
Alyssa:Yeah. That could cause problems for him in life.
Chris: Right. So as his best friend, I should help him overcome his problem.
Alyssa: Good luck! 
 

Word Bank

Favor (n) 帮忙；善意的行为
Can you do me a favor? I need someone to take me to the airport.

Left over (adj) 剩下的
We ate all the food. There wasn’t any left over.

In return (idiom) 回报
If I help you with your homework, will you do somehting for me in return?

Overcome (v) 克服；战胜
Joshua is afraid of the dark.his parents are trying to help him overcome his fear.

More information

One-sided (adj) 偏于某一方的；一面倒的
This game is really one-sided. Their basketball team is so much better than ours.