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@dhein it doesn't really matter what they answer. It's just a way to politely let them know that you can't help (if they expect that). — lawful_neutral 1 min ago

I suggested the other question because it seemed like the responses ("when can you let me know for sure", "so I'll assume yes/no if I don't hear by Tuesday", etc.) would work just as well as a response to a "maybe". What do you normally respond with when someone says "maybe"? — Em C ♦ 50 secs ago

the answers are applicable, your friends mean exactly the same thing as this persons friends when they say maybe. — WendyG 2 mins ago

Does this answer your question? How to get somebody's confirmation when they say "I'll check my schedule"? — WendyG 40 secs ago

It seems like those answers provide a whole lot of analysis and the only thing they suggest doing is to ask the invitee to get back by a certain time. I'm not sure this works because mine are not saying "I will get back to you" — user24051 1 min ago

Does this answer your question? How to get somebody's confirmation when they say "I'll check my schedule"? — Ælis 17 secs ago

Could you give some backup where you have this insight from, regarding your conclusion? Had you talked with friends of yours like described in the past and had an discussion about it so you know they only continued if it was for the sake of venting? Is it important what one responds for having asked their family? What if they say they did already? — dhein 1 min ago

Hi and welcome to the site! We recently had a similar question: How to get somebody's confirmation when they say “I'll check my schedule”? - do the answers there work for your situation too too? If not, it'd be great to edit to add why those answers won't help (that way people don't suggest the same things again). — Em C ♦ 2 mins ago

If they are your friends, have you considered asking them if that's what they expect? I can't think of a situation where I would assume that a friend would want me to take care of their debts. Are you super rich? Please go into more detail. This is absolutely impossible to tell from your question, but it's extremely unusual. You must have a reason why you think so, please explain why you think that they actually expect you to pay. Is this common in your culture? Did they do something similar to you? Do you feel the need to buy their love? What led you to that conclusion? — Raditz_35 1 min ago

Hi and welcome to IPS! I'm really sorry to hear you're dealing with this, I hope you can get useful answers here. I made an edit to be a little more specific about your goal, please feel free to edit it again if that doesn't match your intent. One question I have for you is, does this just happen in school? Are there adults you could potentially ask for help about this? — Em C ♦ 33 secs ago

Well, that's why the less you wait, the better, and people will probably thank you for being proactive. — OldPadawan 2 mins ago

@EdGrimm As humans with unknown reactions and behaviors are involved, as well as situations are very different too, there can't be any guarantee for something to work or nobody can foresee under which conditions it fails. There is no general solution to this problem, just ideas what to try and to adapt. — puck 1 min ago

@RyanfaeScotland Happened to me recently: Friend said "Could you look at this code? It works well, except in this scenario..." I thought it would be easy to fix and said I take care of it, but it actually took several hours. (still was worth it in my eyes) — Angelo Fuchs 1 min ago

This will depend on your culture and on the job. If you have face to face contact with a lot of people, she will a) manage a well-meaning hint and b) really need it. If you work with very fragile people that shy away from contact, you will have to handle it more discreetly. If you are somewhere in a shark tank where everyone is trying to backstab or a very conservative place that's about prestige, e.g. if she is a lawyer or doctor, different story once again. Since you didn't mention anything, I'm assuming she doesn't outrank you. But please give us more information — Raditz_35 2 mins ago

oh boy, i wish i didn't stare for that long time... — BlackCrystal 1 min ago

Well, I actually am often much more older than the person, so that's my POV, but I can't see any situation where people wouldn't understand, even if your reverse roles, people can be smart any age ;) and the situation will be weird anyway, no one likes to be seen like that, so... — OldPadawan 1 min ago

this always works? even if that person is 20 years older than me? — BlackCrystal 1 min ago

If they are your friends, have you considered asking them if that's what they expect? I can't think of a situation where I would assume that a friend would want me to take care of their debts. Are you super rich? Please go into more detail. This is absolutely impossible to tell from your question, but it's extremely unusual. You must have a reason why you think so, please explain why you think that they actually expect you to pay. Is this common in your culture? Did they do something similar to you? Do you feel the need to buy their love? What led you to that conclusion? — Raditz_35 1 min ago

@RyanfaeScotland Happened to me recently: Friend said "Could you look at this code? It works well, except in this scenario..." I thought it would be easy to fix and said I take care of it, but it actually took several hours. (still was worth it in my eyes) — Angelo Fuchs 1 min ago