smonster and Vortex in the same room.... Sounds like a lovely time will be had by all. Well, except the breaking up bit. But what better company to do it in?
P-C, Teppy's strategy on dealing with guilt trips is not only practical in that it obviously works for her, but it is sound in behavior modification theory as well - of the kind I have to use every day at work. Removing any form of reinforcement (i.e. do not respond in any way, as even negative responses provide reinforcement) for inappropriate behavior will tend to extinguish the behavior. But the kicker is, that it often takes many trials of this method before the behavior is extinguished because the individual can remember that the behavior got the reward in the past. You have to stick to it, no matter how long it takes. If you hold out for a while, and then give in, you teach the individual that it is worth keeping up the behavior because eventually they get the reward. And then the next time you try ignoring it, it will take all that much longer to extinguish the behavior. Also, responding to neutral and positive behaviors will reinforce those behaviors and will tend to increase the incidence of them.
Right, IOW, Listen to Teppy; Teppy is wise.