DEAR ABBY: I have friends who exclude me or take off with other friends before I can get to where they are meeting. What can I do to get them to call me? Why am I their whipping post? -- FRIEND-CHALLENGED IN OVERLAND PARK, KAN.
DEAR CHALLENGED: Friends don't treat friends the way you are being treated. There is nothing you can do to get them to behave differently. You are letting them do this because you're hoping that if you ignore their insensitivity and rudeness, they will accept you.
Please stop trying to cling to them. Join activities where you'll meet people with whom you really have something in common. If you do, you will be much happier than you are today.