Q. When my husband and I meet certain friends for lunch, the bill is always higher than it should be, since one friend orders about five different dishes because she’s never sure what she wants. She barely touches any of them. We don’t want to quibble when it comes to dividing the bill, but we have retired and have to be watchful of our spending, unlike them. What should we do?
– D.F., London SW10
A. Next time, you and your husband could feign reduced appetites due to a hectic social life and order small starters for each course. Then, when your friend doesn’t eat the array of dishes presented, you can help yourselves without guilt, claiming it looks too delicious not to eat. ‘Mmm – we were hungrier than we thought!’
Q. I am doing a postgraduate degree in a European university. I want to go into publishing and applied for a subediting job on a well-regarded literary magazine here (I am bilingual). I was interviewed and appointed and duly posted on Instagram. Now I find it is unpaid, though this was never mentioned to me. I believe it was known that I could afford to do it pro bono, which is true, but now I feel slightly ‘played’. How should I extricate myself?
– Name and address withheld
A. Turn a blind eye to the possible reasons for your appointment and do the job. Whether you were played or not, you should not let personal pride come between you and a valuable learning experience.
Q. I have just moved to London from Seville and was happy when a neighbour invited me for drinks. She said ‘Come any time, but not too early’, so I came at 8 p.m., but she said she had assumed I was not coming and was about to go out.
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