Dear Eric: Recently I ran into a friend who invited me for coffee with another friend. I don’t care for the other friend because he is misogynistic and opinionated. I didn’t explain any of this and politely declined the offer, but I felt no explanation was required.

If this comes up again, do I owe this person reasons why I don’t enjoy the other person’s company? I don’t want to malign the guy since she enjoys his company, and he is perfectly nice, but I am just not interested.

– Coffee Date

Dear Coffee: It’s absolutely fine to decline the invitation with no explanation. This other friend is not your cup of tea (or coffee, as it were). That happens and, with casual run-ins and friendly, low stakes invites, you don’t always need to go into detail about the why behind the decline. However, if this other friend is misogynistic, then he’s not “perfectly nice.” If your friend has missed that aspect, you have the chance to point it out, should this situation arise again. What your friend does with that opinion is up to them.

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Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at [email protected] or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.