Women (I lead the pack) can be notoriously hard to invite to dinner. Here’s what happens. Friend A calls friend B and says, “Can you come for dinner Saturday night?” Friend B joyfully says, “Yes, what can I bring?”
Women (I lead the pack) can be notoriously hard to invite to dinner. Here’s what happens. Friend A calls friend B and says, “Can you come for dinner Saturday night?” Friend B joyfully says, “Yes, what can I bring?”
Friend A answers, “Nothing thank you.” Then the trouble starts. Friend A brought something to Friend B’s last time so she insists on evening the score and bringing a dish to the friend A’s dinner party. After friend B tells her that she insists on bringing a dish, an exasperated friend A says, “No- I have everything we need, you really don’t need to bring anything!” One more plea from friend B and finally friend A throws her hands up and relents to asking her to bring cheese and crackers.
Conversations between two friends are mysterious and complex. Unfortunately, many of us women make them more complex than need be. If we simply listened to the adage in Mark’s gospel about making our ‘Yes be Yes and our No be No’, we could free ourselves and our friends from much turmoil. Let’s practice doing just that.
To begin, when a friend tells us, “No, thank you,” decide to believe her. Maybe she really means it. Maybe she really doesn’t want you to bring cheese and crackers and you are annoying her with your persistence. Then we can do something else. We can begin using those three words more frequently to simplify our lives.