An Open Letter to My Free-Loader Friends

I am sure every group of friends has one or two of these people who take “mooching” to the next level and almost make an art form out of it! I have a couple of such friends too (and by the tone of this post you will likely guess one of them is starting to tick me off!). In general, they are very nice people and a lot of fun to hang out with. They are witty, charming and full of life, and I really like hanging out with them. But the moment the time comes to part with a few benjamins and they start slithering and sliming away. A slip of hand, a slight change in conversation and before you know it you find yourself picking up the tab. Heck, sometimes you may not even notice that you were suckered until much later when bam, it hits you - “Not again!” There are few things I would like to tell these friends, but can never really bring myself to say it out loud, because (a) I don’t want to be mean or rude and (b) like I said before, these are nice people that I like to have as friends, but for their free-loading tendencies. So, here is an open letter to my free-loader friends…

• I would love to hang out with you at the coffee station (or the pub), but will you please promise me that you will pay for your own coffee (or drinks)?


• Why is that we should go to the closest restaurant for lunch when you drive, no matter how dumpy the place is but it doesn’t matter how far the restaurant is when the rest of us drive?


• Maybe you didn’t notice, but when we pay the bill after lunch we do pay taxes and tips. If not the tips, we would appreciate it if you would at least pay for the tax part for your portion of the meal!


• Please, please, please don’t take a handful of mints, just because they are free!!! You are embarrassing all of us!


• Keep your hands off my lunch box. Especially the cherries! They are expensive and I bought them as an indulgence and an incentive for packing lunch instead of eating out!!!


• Yes, we need to throw her a baby shower and get her a gift! No, I don’t think your baby’s old clothes and toys can be “bundled” up into a hand made gift! Yeesh!


• Please don’t try borrowing movies from me and the other guys “after we are done watching” – its way too cheap. You can rent a movie at the movie kiosks for a buck, for crying out loud!


• When we go out for movies and you look around and ask if anyone needs popcorn, we all know you are saying “someone please buy me some popcorn”. Dude, just come out and say it!


• And finally, it is as hard for us to make our money as it is for you to make yours. So how about reaching for your wallet before one of us reach for ours, at least once in a while?

Phew… that felt good :)

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