“Would you like to have lunch with me tomorrow?”

“That would be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

Aye, there’s the rub. “Are you sure?” The words are polite, the intent pure, but the implications to a relationship are as perilous as a poisoned dart.

The problem is that we are taught to be “polite” at the expense of being real. If you think you might “hurt” my feelings your answer will be “nice” and not authentic. No wonder we have this vague feeling that something important is missing in our relationships....