How You Should Do It

Lashing: the act of a person or thing that lashes; specifically, a) a whipping. b) a strong rebuke; as, he got a tongue lashing.

People don't want my advice. Most people don't want anybody's advice. People who know something about my past look at me and think: "I don't trust this guy enough to ask him where the bathroom is. I'm going to see what he thinks about the relationship I'm in?" I'm not offended anymore. After all, I don't have a great track record with things that can be done. I really don't know where the bathroom is. If I did, I would give vague and incomplete directions, and no one would ever find the bathroom.


When I try to come up with instances where people have called me up and asked what I thought before they did something, I pretty much draw a blank. This is especially true if someone thinks I won't condone what they're doing. All I can do is try to be empathetic, and to listen. People want someone to hear them out. They don't want to be told what they're doing is wrong. Sometimes they are really out of line -- bank robberies, hostage taking, non-alcoholic beer -- but most of the time it's anybody's guess how things will work out.

I don't know what's best for me. I know what's best for you?