Questions tagged [saying-no]
Questions about how best to approach saying "no", or declining requests. Please explain in your question why just saying "no" is not sufficient.
9
votes
3answers
1k views
How to avoid being kissed by someone with braces?
Situation
I have recently found myself in a position where someone I am attracted to has tried to kiss me. The only problem I really have with this— their braces.
I quickly brushed them off before ...
16
votes
5answers
855 views
How can I decline a hug without offending?
My boyfriend shares an apartment with an older man who has a physical disability which prevents him from walking. The housemate is very kind and intelligent. However, sometimes when I am alone with ...
9
votes
3answers
834 views
Foreign Friend wants me to go to the hospital with him in order to translate
We are in Japan, and one of my British friends got neck pain and needs to go to the hospital. The injury occurred a few month ago and recently he asked me to go to the hospital with him. First he went ...
2
votes
2answers
662 views
How can I politely decline when someone asks to use my camera on my phone?
So occasionally someone will ask to use my phone just to use my camera. The last time this happened it was at work, but it can be a friend or relative that just needs a quick picture of something. ...
7
votes
5answers
776 views
How to tell a friend I don't want to continue giving him advice?
A friend of mine, who was one year behind in college and in the same graduate program, will soon graduate and is in the look out for a job. This friend has being asking me for advice (I'm very well ...
2
votes
2answers
350 views
how to say no to a recurring request from my managers and team members [closed]
So I've been living in another country for 10 years, and I've been working with a client for about 2 years, and about 6 months ago I made a mistake, I agreed to prepare a drink from my home country ...
3
votes
2answers
730 views
How to say NO to a family member request about taking care of her child?
Background
I have this family member, my cousin, who lives 30 minutes ride away from me. She has a full-time job and her mother takes care of her 6-year-old child during the day, while she is at work....
4
votes
2answers
429 views
How to ask my neighbor who joined my sport club to play with other beginners?
I have been playing badminton doubles in a club for 2 years. I always play a good game and give a tough time to the players who were playing against me. In total we are 15 players in the club. We all ...
6
votes
3answers
738 views
How to ask someone to stop addressing me with a certain form of endearment
I have a friend whose family I also know. Her mother likes me, and addresses me as her "(my ethnicity) daughter", or herself as my "(her ethnicity) mother" as a form of endearment. I live in a Western,...
1
vote
3answers
892 views
How to tell to my mother that I don’t want to do certain things she requests me to do?
Context
I’m 19 years old in Bucharest, Romania in high school at grade 12. Since I’ve been gifted with an iPhone, I kinda liked staying on my new phone. But, I couldn’t control myself. Now my parents ...
73
votes
11answers
22k views
How do I tell students at a school I volunteer at to stop flirting with me?
Occasionally, I head out to volunteer to teach robotics programming at an all-girls school in my area. For context, I'm male and age 20, and the students are adolescent females in 7th and 8th grade (...
7
votes
6answers
927 views
How to decline additional help when friend won't take no for an answer
A friend of mine has a business idea. He asked if I knew how to make (smartphone) apps, and I said yes. I recently graduated and currently have some spare time for a side project and could see this ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
How can I say “No” to a best friend asking for Marriage?
TL;DR
My one childhood friend asking me for marriage. He is my very good friend. I want to say him 'No' for marriage.
Background
Few months before, I have seen a guy on Facebook in recommended ...
-2
votes
1answer
483 views
How can I ask all my classmates to do as I want to do? [closed]
I’m asking this because, now I’m Romania, our high school principal made those who are grade 12 to start class from 8-9AM.
My major problem is when it comes for me to wake up on 8:00AM, so I end up ...
74
votes
12answers
24k views
Asking a coworker to discontinue his chivalrous acts towards me?
I've made a friend, Bob, in my workplace who is too much of a gentleman for my comfort level.
Initially, we became fast friends due to our shared interests and political beliefs. We often message ...
3
votes
1answer
381 views
How to tell acquaintance that I don't endorse his reckless habits?
For two years, we have been renting out part of our house to a family who we were introduced to through church. Our family is no longer part of said church, but we are still on friendly terms due to ...
53
votes
11answers
13k views
How to say no to an extremely pushy friend
My friend, which is also my coworker, likes to organise events for his friends. He invites a lot of people, but always expects everyone to join him regardless of if they have already planned something ...
76
votes
14answers
20k views
How can I stress to my brother the importance of saving when he relies on me as a safety net?
My younger brother has a wife and two daughters and has habit of spending money. For example, he likes going to movies often, eating out often, and buying name brand clothes.
I also have a wife and ...
10
votes
5answers
1k views
How to deal with a boss that privately texts an (uninterested) coworker
At the annual summer party of our company I have introduced a friend and colleague of mine to my supervisor. My colleague is from another department at another office and we have known each other some ...
40
votes
13answers
10k views
How to decline a job offer from a previous employer, without burning bridges?
A little over a year ago I changed my job. Now my previous employer (a small startup) has contacted me asking what it would take for me to come back. While the place was not at all bad and I left on ...
10
votes
1answer
2k views
How to ask co-rider to share price for fuel?
I am talking about a close family friend -
We travel daily on the same route almost during the same time, the other person has to travel about 8 kilometers more than me. So we decided to share the ...
9
votes
3answers
1k views
Helping my cousin reject advances from a classmate
I have a cousin who is younger to me and she seemed a bit disturbed over the fact that a guy in her class had confessed his feelings for her. But she exactly doesn't feel the same for him.
I was ...
5
votes
3answers
1k views
How do I say no to a person seeking friendship that doesn't understand internet etiquette?
I posted a message in a very large Facebook group (~75,000 members) asking for specific information to help me in my internship.
One person that speaks Spanish messaged me and asked me to be his ...
13
votes
4answers
1k views
How to calmly respond to friendly peer-pressure when it's a major pet-peeve?
Every so often I find myself in a situation where a friend or coworker asks if I want to do something social, and I don't want to for some non-committal reasons. By "non-committal" reasons, I'm ...
5
votes
2answers
586 views
Roommates complained to landlord before talking to me
I moved homes a few months ago. I’m living with roommates: 1 couple and the landlady. I’m not sure if the landlady is currently living in the home as I haven’t seen her for several weeks.
This ...
7
votes
1answer
362 views
How to deal with friends or acquaintances requests to do their big idea projects?
I'm someone who always has a lot of projects going - inventions, car resto-mods, home repair, programming, etc. Inevitably a proportion of the people I meet see this as an opportunity to get someone ...
6
votes
6answers
1k views
How do I politely say no to a stranger asking to use my phone to make a personal call?
TL;DR
A stranger approached me and asked me if they could use my phone. I didn't want to be rude and say no bluntly, so I wavered, and felt uncomfortable. How do I say no to strangers asking for use ...
23
votes
4answers
3k views
How can I decline to help my teacher with their personal IT problem?
Background
Note: Certain details have been changed for privacy's sake.
I am the go-to person for tech help for my friends (and enemies), family, and teachers. I have helped everyone I know with ...
37
votes
5answers
11k views
How do I reject helping my neighbour who constantly asks me for little favours?
My neighbour is constantly asking me for little favours, which is super obnoxious. She regularly asks me to maintain her smartphone as she has no clue what to do with a smartphone and keeps ...
10
votes
1answer
598 views
How to tactfully turn down demands from a demanding friend?
I have a deaf-blind friend, and she is very sweet. Because she is deaf and blind, there are many restrictions on what she can and can't do, and she has a mitochondrial condition that causes her ...
-1
votes
1answer
323 views
How to handle being accosted by shop staff when walking past store? [duplicate]
Occasionally I walk past this cell phone store and sometimes when the store is empty there's an employee (or the owner) standing outside accosting passers by.
He'll make eye contact with people from ...
2
votes
4answers
967 views
How to stop friends from coming in my holiday house?
I have the following problem:
I own a house near the beach, in which I go only in summer. Every year, friends ask me (or try to manipulate me to invite them) to come and spend their vacations there. ...
38
votes
2answers
14k views
How to explain that we are not comfortable with a new boyfriend staying at our house?
My wife is having a friend stay over with us at the end of the month for a visit. The friend asked if she could bring her new (~2 months) boyfriend along as well. We are not comfortable with this for ...
6
votes
1answer
928 views
How can I decline an invitation and then go without them?
In 2016 I went to a comic con with a group of online friends, of which a couple of streamers with a decent sized community. F is in this community but nobody really speaks to him outside from what he ...
4
votes
2answers
883 views
How do I tell my close friend that I don't need the advice he gives me? He always patronizes in every conversation!
First up, he's a long time friend of mine, but not someone I ever will get along with in the same room for more than an hour. In the past, I've had a lots of insecurities and he used to be the ...
11
votes
2answers
1k views
How to stop being invited to girlfriend's family vacations?
My girlfriend's family likes to take trips together and my girlfriend always goes with them. The problem is that they often want to include me and I'd rather not go. They cover all costs and are ...
2
votes
6answers
570 views
How do I respond to a former co-worker asking for help with his resume?
A former colleague was recently terminated from our division. He lost his mid-level development position due to several factors, all of which could be summed up to poor job performance, misuse of ...
33
votes
10answers
17k views
Saying “No” to my brother's demand without causing an argument
Bit of background on my relationship with my brother: ever since my teenage years, I could not bear him. I know it is common for siblings to have arguments and misunderstandings, and that's been the ...
9
votes
2answers
2k views
How to be friends with a man, but not with his wife
Background: I live in Germany and come from an eastern-european country, I am 30 and female. The man in question, let's call him Ben, is from Germany, he is 55, he recently married Alice, she's 40 and ...
9
votes
3answers
3k views
How to politely turn down roommate offer for awkward reason
Awhile ago I was roommates with someone. We stopped being roommates on good terms (we both moved to different cities but are now back in the same one). My roommate became a cop. I'm still friends with ...
7
votes
2answers
565 views
How to decline a help request (which suggests that I must do all his job)
In my class, everyone is looking forward to the presentation of our little project (programming with C#) at high-school.
Most of my class doesn't even know how to code properly and, because of that, ...
-5
votes
5answers
815 views
How do I tactfully refuse to donate money? [closed]
At a family dinner, my snippy uncle "reminded" me:
Have you donated to my church's charity yet? I mentioned last time that it's only $200 [USD] a month. This is like 3 restaurant meals.
All my ...
-1
votes
3answers
252 views
How do I effectively convey my inability to attend an event?
There's a reunion party that has been organized by my High School friends. Let's say, it's on 10th of June. They expect almost everyone to be present since it's the first reunion that we have had. But,...
8
votes
2answers
2k views
How to tell a person who is interested in me that a relationship is not an option?
I have this workmate for almost 2-months now, who is an all-out person. I mean, she's not afraid to tell any of her feelings towards another person. Now, she told me she likes me. I told her, which I ...
42
votes
14answers
16k views
How can I deny a request from the mother of my girlfriend to tag along on our road trip?
Background
My girlfriend and I are going on a holiday in her native country, about 800km from our current city.
We planned this holiday months ago and we planned to stay for 2 weeks.
Problem
Today ...
36
votes
8answers
13k views
How can I tactfully refuse to let someone cut in line? [closed]
On over 3 occasions at different supermarkets in the same neighbourhood, I've bumped into the same person asking to cut in line. He usually says:
Sorry. Can I please go in front? I'm in a big hurry....
7
votes
2answers
679 views
How to politely say 'I have a prior appointment' to a friend inviting me to a meaningful event, without going into details?
Recently, a friend invited me to an event that was important to her.
I said "I have an appointment." but worry I may have blown her off. I didn't want to go into specifics - the appointment was for ...
8
votes
1answer
533 views
Dealing with friends are attempting to recruit me for a job
I'm going to leave as many details out as possible to keep this anonymous since they are in tech, but here we go:
I have some friends who are starting their own company. They have some small capital, ...
6
votes
5answers
875 views
How to tactfully refuse to provide academic help?
As an undergraduate student(and a so-called nerd), I have had friends who requested academic help a day or two before exams. Now, I don't have much problem with helping them and I try my best to do ...
30
votes
5answers
14k views
How do I convince my Mom I’m not inviting my brother to someone else’s bachelor party?
My friend is getting married, and another mutual friend is planning his bachelor party, to which I’ve been invited (we’re all in our early 30s). Initially, my mother wanted me to take it upon myself ...
