Is She Really a Twit?

We all have this girlfriend, the one who calls you every other week and pours her guts out about her husband/boyfriend...and wants your advice. You then talk her off the ledge, give her great words of advice and wisdom, and she agrees. You hang up the phone and feel good that you helped a friend. You get a call from the same friend later that week and it turns out she did not follow any of your advice and decided to stay in the same bad situation or mismanage her current situation.

What the hell do you do in this situation?

It is hard for me to cut friends off from my opinions and advice but after a certain point, there is no choice. You feel like the person is wasting your time. Is this the right attitude to have?

I guess this irks me because in our hearts, we all know the right answer. If you are in a situation where your husband/boyfriend/lover is abusive, you know, deep down, that you should leave. However I also know that sometimes it means more when you call your friends and hear them state the obvious. That sometimes offers the extra push you need to move forward with what you need to do. But how do we know what is right, hear what is right and then make the same mistakes over and over?

I really would like to believe that a few of my friends that fit this mold are not that stupid but when I continue to get these phone calls related to "what should I do?" I am really ready to lose my mind or temper with them. Is this a natural reaction? Should I be more patient because the obvious is not always that to some people?

Please know that I do not think that I have some special gift for knowing everything, nor am I always right and make the right decisions. I make a lot of mistakes and sometimes fall into the same traps but I am happy to say that when I make a mistake, I try to learn from it so it does not happen again. I also think twice before calling a girlfriend and pouring out my heart about the same issue 5 times a month.


How do you deal with the friend in your life that asks for too much advice without ever following it?