When Your Friend’s Business is None-Of-Your-Business!

It is 2015 people, and very often we share details of our life on social media, posting selfies, and talking about our problems. But even with that, there needs to be some distance. We need a protected space around us where only our closest inner circle has access.

Unless someone chooses to give you details, there are some things about your friend’s life that are just none of your business no matter how long you have known them. Even if a friend shares something with you, it doesn’t mean you have the right to share it with anyone else  or continue probing until you know all the intimate details of their story. They get to choose which parts of their life get shared.

Friends can have a hard time with boundaries and asking questions. We want to get to know friends, and rather than take the time to do it properly, we ask things that we probably shouldn’t. We do this mistakenly thinking it’s a good way to make small talk (it’s not!), and also because there are times we take the info we find out and gossip about it.

Don’t Ask a Friend How Much Money Their Family Has or How They Afford Things

Money is a personal subject for people and many friends have their own unique money personality. It’s none of your business why a friend chooses to spend money on one thing over another.

People use money as a way to judge someone else, even when they have just met them. Never ask your friend:

1. How rich are your parents?
2. How many cars does your family have?
3. How much do your shoes and clothes cost?

Anything related to how and why they spend money is none of your concern. We are all interested in how to live better, and perhaps you would like the kind of life your friend has. But there is a way to ask for advice for your own life rather than nosing into the details of your friend’s finances.

Never Comment On Your Friend’s Exercise or Food Habits

Be supportive when a friend wants to talk or share his exercise and food habits with you, but don’t judge what you think you see. There are many health issues that are not visible on the outside and yet cause problems for your friend. 

Your friend may be dealing with a terrible medical condition that you know nothing about. If you are genuinely concerned about them, you can say something like:

I see you struggling with X (chronic fatigue, diabetes, etc.) but I don’t know much about the disease. Is there something you can tell me about it so I’ll better understand? I would like to help you.

Be very careful with your motive when asking a friend about health issues. Make sure it comes from a place of support rather than wanting to gloat or preach about what you think they should do.

Don’t Ask Personal Questions About Your Friend’s Love Life

If your friend is single, don’t ask about who they are dating. If you become really close as friends you might discuss things that your friend wouldn’t talk about with anyone else, but until then, keep topics more generalized between you.

Unless Your Friend Talks Politics and Religion, Don’t Get Nosy About Their Beliefs

Some people are very vocal about their opinions, which makes friends who don’t share all the more interesting. We might wonder what our friends believe but it’s rude to ask how they worship. Their religion and political affiliation is none of your business. Politics and religion are two subjects that friends often find difficult to discuss, but really, if your friend is quiet on what they believe, don’t push.

It is all these little social graces that smoothen our social interactions, they are what make us civil, approachable, agreeable, and easy to be around.