So, my cousin is a sponger
I wasn't sure which forum to post this in, but here goes:
My cousin lives in another state and we both found ourselves single again. I have a spacious place with a guest bedroom and gladly invited him to stay multiple times. I am not the type to keep a ledger on these things, so it took me awhile to realize he was taking advantage of my generosity. When I stay with friends, I never go there empty handed and make sure whenever the opportunity arises to show my gratitude for their
hospitality by picking up a check for lunch, dinner, etc. Over the span of several months, my cousin almost always came empty handed and never so much as offered to buy me a drink. The straw that broke the camel's back was when he picked up a small check, then announced the deal was he expected me to pay his way for the rest of the night's pub-crawling. It became clear that he had planned this when he didn't have enough cash
with him to pay a very small cover charge. (I might add, by the way, that this is not a case of youthful ignorance--we are both Baby Boomers. Nor is it a case of his being strapped for cash--he regularly buys himself very expensive "toys"). So, as my Jewish friends would say, he's a classic schnorrer. My problem is, I have lots of other cousins (including his siblings) and will inevitably be running into them at family gatherings. How do I tactfully respond to their questions about why my cousin and I are no longer hanging out?
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