Robin who blogs as Miss Conduct at the Boston Globe requested experiences with friends and family members who have different values around money for a book that she is writing about etiquette:

What I’m finding harder to write about is relationships with people who have different values around materialism. Can someone whose idea of a perfect Saturday is to hit the mall and shop till she drops, fueled by the occasional triple latte, be friends with someone who wants to bake cookies and then take a nature walk? How do you cope with the in-law who insists on showering everyone with gifts from Neiman Marcus when the rest of the family has sworn to buy only handmade gifts this year? The co-worker who starts in on sweatshops every time you show up with a new outfit? The neighbor who buys a new car every two years–and then complains constantly about his credit-card debt?

I’m not looking for answers–though if you’ve got any, I’d love to hear! What I want are perspectives, stories, thoughts, feelings. If you don’t want to leave them in the comments, please e-mail me.

So there you have it with her email above and a link to her original post here, if you’d like to describe an experience in comments.

I do have an acquaintance whose life seems to revolve around shopping. We are family friends from childhood, and for years, I set aside time to shop with her once or twice a year until I went (mostly) sweat-shop-free and now I just don’t see her. Also, I made a snotty comment about Disneyland.