I took care of two friends’ cat for a couple of weeks while they were away. He’s a lovely cat, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. To thank me—which I had insisted was unnecessary—they gave me a gift card to a local coffee shop. But when I tried using it recently, an employee told me that it didn’t work. Should I let my friends know? I really don’t need a gift. —Friend
Absolutely tell your friends! It’s not gift-grubbing to let them know that the gift card—on which they spent money to thank you—is a bust. Otherwise, you’re converting the gift into one for the coffee shop owners. And that’s not what your friends intended.
—Adapted from “Social Q’s” in The New York Times Magazine