I know you hate giving advice, but I need your experience on my side. I have the opportunity to buy out another fisherman’s fleet at the end of the season. The trouble is this will put us in a real bind financially next season. I hope you will come on down. I will take you to lunch and we can look at the numbers together. I trust your judgment more than my own. I look forward to hearing from you.

Jane, you are the one person I feel I can consult on this. I just got a raise and for the first time I am making more than Eric. In spite of what he says, I know this is troubling him…HELP! Let’s get together over lunch this week and you can tell me how you handled the same problem.

I need your advice. You are a friend who seems to know right from wrong. I am in severe financial trouble and wonder whether I should take out bankruptcy. I’d prefer to speak to you directly about this rather than go into detail in a letter. Could we get together sometime next week to discuss my situation? I’ll give you a call in the next few days to set a time. Thank you for your time.