butterflywing

i agree, but i think you should give your son a heads-up. you don't want him to hear about this from her own skewed point of view. however, when you do tell him, stand firm.

Pat G

Carol, I was happy to read your response here. I am also a very generous, giving person. I have a neighbor who I thought was going to be a wonderful best friend. Now that my husb. passed away & I now live alone, she's in & out of my house like she lives here.

She's always helping herself to my stuff. I have a quilt hanging in my little quilt shop & I mentioned one day that the purple border doesn't look good on it & I was going to take it off. She sits down with it & proceeds to take it off & take it home. It showed up on her tablerunner. I was so shocked I stood there with my mouth hanging open.

She asks to buy a cpl. of stamps but never pays for them. She comes "mooching" anything she needs instead of just buying her own. Even told me one day that she needed to borrow some dog shampoo while I was bathing my dog. She was using my basting spray one day when I knew she had some so I finally told her she should go home & get her spray. She did.
So I finally started locking my front door. She finally got the hint. Nobody had told me she's done this to sev. people in this sm. comminity in an RV park. She's gotten the hint since she stopped mooching. Until she needed tissue to wrap a Christmas present the other day. WHAT???? I told her I didn't have any.
I'm sorry this is so long but I just have to get this off my chest. Looks like many of you understand. Thanks

ps. Needless to say she is not a best friend. I may be lonely but I'm not that desperate. There are so many things she's pulled I don't even trust her in my house anymore.

toodie11

I had to read your post twice because I thought I miss read it. I would tell her next time that she comes, that you do not have any spare fabric, she took it all last time she was there and you have plans for the rest. You may suggest if she is looking for fabric that she could sign up for coupons at fabric stores and be notified of sales.

Pat G

Toodie, believe me, I keep a close eye on her now but it's important in this sm. community not to make a big fuss. I think she knows I'm onto her now since she doesn't come over as much anymore. I will know how to deal with her though if it comes up again.

On the other hand, I have friends here who I would open my doors & possessions to. I'd trust them with anything.

trisha

Well, if you keep some fabric on a shelf for her, or go buy some cheap stuff for her to pick from, that is just enabling her. Obviously she has gotten away with it and sounds like people just want to appease her rather than tick her off, but that is not doing her any good, or anyone else for that matter. It is not up to you to keep her supplied, you worked hard to pay for the stuff you have, so it shouldn't be that hard to say no to her. Don't let her intimidate you.

Pat G

I would never do that (keep cheap fabric for her). We're all grown ups & don't want to play that game. She's just so slick with it that it's done before we realize we've been duped. Not going to happen to me again if I can help it. She sure doesn't intimidate me. Most of us are happy to share with ea. other so this is out of character for the rest of us.

I'd like to give you the lowest example ever then I won't bring it up again.
We were at our LQS & I was paying for my purchase. You know how stores have a little dish of chg. on the counter? She was fingering through the chg when she picked up a penny. She said "oh this is a feather penny. It's a 1940s penny & worth a fortune". She put it in her purse. Then she turned to me & asked if I had a penny so she could pay for the one she put in her purse. I was stunned. That said it all. It's hard to top that. And no I didn't have any chg. for her.

Thanks for letting me spout off about this. Not much ruffles my feathers quite so much as a mooch.

seamstome

OMG!! you cant get lower than a penny

Pat G

I appreciate all of your suggestions & ideas. I refuse to hide my stash since I have my own 10x12 LQS shop outside. Ok, so I do tend to lock it occas. now. After learning of other people's experiences with her here I will have no prob. saying NO in the future. I scolded the others for not warning me when they saw her spending so much time here. I'm sure it will all turn out ok though.

I want to wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Rann

My sister is like that. She tells people that she can get anything from me because if it is her sister's, it's hers too!! I've told her for years I worked for mine and she should work for hers. I have always worked. My sister and brother have gone through life only working enough to earn enough to get by and then quit until they are out of money. Can you believe she even borrowed money from a waitress at a restaurant? She has worked more in the last 5 years than the rest of her life and she just turned 60.

Rann

Don't get me wrong. I help friends all the time and would give away the last food in my house or the last penny I had but don't assume something is yours because it is mine.