Gwen

I have this friend. She shall be called... Gwen. She and I have been friends since we were 16. Not super close friends, but friendly friends. She is a very sweet person with a big heart.

First a little background. I have a food allergy, and sometimes it's hard to find foods that I can eat.

So anyway. She does this thing. She randomly buys me foods that are specifically made to omit the offending allergen. Usually when they are on clearance or on sale. Which is pretty awesome.

Except. She (usually) doesn't ask me before she buys them, and when she brings them over, she expects me to fork over cash for them. Now I don't know about you, but when I randomly buy something for someone, I just count it as a gift, something to say, "I was thinking of you and thought you might enjoy it." Especially if the recipient didn't ask for it.

On top of that, she is notorious for being that friend that drops by unexpectedly. Without warning. And she doesn't see anything wrong with it.
I feel that it's common courtesy to give someone a call and make sure it's ok to come over before you just start pounding on someone's door. With a kid in tow.

Then, she doesn't just do a quick drop-off (and unabashedly collect the cash). She wants to hang out for a while. With a toddler that she doesn't exactly discipline, wandering around in an un-child-proofed house. She thinks it's cute when her kid gets into people's shit.

And in the meantime, I have had plans to start dinner, or laze around in my underwear and drink coffee at 10am Sunday morning (which she has recently intruded upon), or take a shower, or whatever the hell I feel like doing.

I've tried telling her that I'm not in a very sociable mood when she comes over, and being a little rude, but it's hard to do that when she's come bearing "gifts" and she feels like she is doing something nice.

I've told her that I'd prefer a phone call before she comes over, but more often than not, I'm forced to shut all the curtains, lock all the doors, and hide in my bathroom or crouched behind the couch when she comes a-knockin'.

Lovely, huh?