Ask Amy: Car deal hits a bump in the road

Dear Amy: My best friend's mother no longer can drive, so they are selling her car.

I asked her how much they were asking for the car. The reply: "For you, $500." I said, "Consider it sold. I will buy it for my daughter." I called my daughter to go over and test drive it. She did and got the VIN number to get insurance before she picked it up.

My girlfriend asked her to come get the car on Friday. However, my daughter got very sick on Friday and went to the doctor. The doctor thinks she has kidney stones.

When my daughter didn't show up to get the car, I got a text from my friend. I explained that my daughter was sick.

Then my friend texted me on Saturday and again on Sunday morning that she still hadn't heard from her. She called me on Sunday night, saying that they decided not to sell the car, after all.

Now I feel slighted. While I agree that a phone call from my daughter to explain why she was not able to get the car would have been nice, I'm sure she just forgot. She was in a lot of pain.

Couldn't my friend have shown a little sympathy for my daughter? How do I get over this?

If you had paid for the car, then your daughter's excuses for not taking possession wouldn't have mattered as much, and they would not have been able to take back their offer.

As it is, the delays gave the family time to reconsider their choice, and because the car still belonged to them, they exercised their right to change their minds. Your friend then notified you promptly, which was the right thing to do.

You should chalk this up to a case of unfortunate timing and do your best to move on.

Dear Amy: I had some truly dear friends for over 10 years who were with me through good times and bad.

They moved away. I try to keep in touch, but I find that I am always the one to initiate contact; they never make the first move to call or send a text.

Amy says: The most important aspect of this is how you feel when you communicate with these friends. Do you sense that they are happy to hear from you? Do they take an interest in your updates? Do they follow a phone call from you with a text telling you how nice it was to catch up?

My point is that some people don't ever seem to initiate, for a variety of reasons — some of which have nothing to do with how they feel about you. Something as simple as a time zone difference can throw people off.

You can certainly tell them: "I love catching up with you, but I always make the first move. It's pretty frustrating, and I'm trying not to take it personally."

This sort of statement doesn't terminate the friendship, but opens the door for them to acknowledge, apologize, and make an effort to get back on track with you. After that, you can go quiet if you want to, knowing that you've stated your case, without guilting them into a corner.