Q. What should I say the next time I run into a woman with whom I was at art school but who obviously does not want to be friends with me now? I heard she had moved in round here and I was shopping in the high street when I saw her for the first time in ten years, but she looked very uncomfortable and said, ‘Must dash’, and almost got run over so eager was she to get away from me. Ten minutes later I saw her again, but when she saw me she once again beat a hasty retreat. I can’t think why she is being so unfriendly as we got on well at art school. What do you advise?
—R.B., Fareham, Hampshire
A. You should not have taken the snubbing personally. It may be that the woman’s life has been going badly for many years and, confronted by an old acquaintance, she would be forced to admit the terrible details to herself as well as to the questioner.
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