She was stiffed by online ride-share deal

DEAR AMY: Through a sports-related online meet-up group, I gave a virtual stranger a 65-mile ride to the destination, with the assumption that round-trip travel costs would be shared equally. On the website where this event was organized, she posted a notice saying she would share the travel expenses and toll costs. She rode back with another person and paid me nothing. Since she traveled only one way with me, would proper etiquette dictate she reimburse me for half of the one-way cost and then give the other party half of the return-trip cost?

Stiffed

DEAR STIFFED: Some questions are answered by etiquette. And then there are times when a matter is more appropriately handled in small-claims court.

If your rider had purchased a round-trip bus ticket for herself and then had gotten a ride home with a friend, the bus company wouldn't refund half her fare; you had an agreement for a round trip and she broke the agreement.

Contact her, asking for the agreed-upon reimbursement.

And take this as a lesson - in the future, discuss your arrangement in advance, set a reasonable price and accept your half of the money before you depart.

DEAR AMY: In response to "Worried Wife," who has a close relative who has no job, little ambition and few prospects and is asking for money, how about making her work for her stipend? She is asking for money because someone has enabled her by giving her money her whole life. Stop the cycle and give her something to work for. My brother gave me three years' worth of landscaping for the help I gave him. Now he has his own landscaping company!Been There

DEAR BEEN THERE: Giving someone a job - rather than an open-ended stipend - is a great idea.