DEAR HARRIETTE: I work as an organizer in a few residences. One of my bosses chooses to communicate strictly through text. I am all right with this unconventional method, but she also texts me about random topics -- very much like she is trying to start a friendship.
How can I respond when my boss texts me trying to be friends? I don't feel comfortable discussing my date nights and girls' nights with the woman who pays me. -- Sorting It Out, Westchester, New York
DEAR SORTING IT OUT: Sometimes when people work inside others’ homes, a certain level of intimacy grows over time. It doesn’t mean that you become besties. It may mean, in this woman’s case, that she wants to know you a little better, you being the person who spends so much time in her home gleaning how she lives her life.
Keep your written communication professional as you answer her personal questions as vaguely as possible. In this way, you will be communicating with her, but not revealing too much. Short answers work great. If she asks if you had a date on the weekend, you can respond, “Fun weekend,” or “Relaxing weekend,” or whatever else you want to say. You can then bring her back to the work by asking her something about what you have most recently completed that you think she will like.