Dear Gabby,
I’m 16, and my best friend “Trish” and I have been friends since 4th grade. For the past while, every time I’ve wanted to go out and do something fun with Trish, she’s declined, and I used to say she was a kill-joy, but then I realized it was about the money. I have a fairly rich dad, and I get a generous allowance. Trish doesn’t have a dad, her mom has to work very hard at a not very great job to support everyone. So I offered to pay for Trish so we can go out and do fun stuff, but she still declines because she says she feels guilty. I wanna do fun stuff with my friend, but I can’t. What should I do?
Vicky in B.C.
Dear Vicky,
You know, there’s lots of “fun stuff” you can do without spending any money. You can sit on your front porch and play cards, go to the park and toss a Frisbee around, play volleyball at the beech, and you can even move the coffee table and dance the night away in your living room. The possibilities are endless, and maybe years later when your friend Trish has her own life and her own money, you can look at having fun while spending money too, but for now try to understand that money is a sore spot for her.
