DEAR ABBY: I'm a friendly, outgoing cashier at a grocery store. I enjoy chatting with customers. I particularly like some of them and look forward to them coming in. The problem is what I should do when they ask me for personal information, like my phone number or Facebook information.
In the last month, two customers asked to be my friends on Facebook and one asked for my phone number. I don't feel comfortable sharing this information with them. It's important for me to have a private life kept separate from my work life.
What is a polite way to let them know I don't want to give out that information? -- FACEBOOK-UNFRIENDLY IN LOVELAND, COLO.
DEAR FACEBOOK-UNFRIENDLY: Smile at the customer and, in your usual upbeat, friendly way, say: "You know, I think you are very nice -- but I keep my work life and personal life separate. I never mix the two. But thanks for asking." Period.