> I don't want to cause them to say yes when they don't want to just because they like me But that's the only reason they would say yes. Unless they're just us

> I don't want to cause them to say yes when they don't want to just because they like me But that's the only reason they would say yes. Unless they're just using you as a source of information or as someone who can lend them a thing. Are you afraid that people like you? That they think they should like you? I feel that the right response here is to link you to Aristotle's conception of friendship: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philia You seem to have nothing but friendships of utility. Your friends are people who can give you information or lend you things, and who trouble you when they call upon you for the pleasure of your company. That's the kind of friendship a lobbyist talks about having with the local senator.