Sometimes the worst people we can have the misfortune of being connected to belong to our own family, our so-called in-group. They are manipulative, selfish, and take advantage of other people’s generosity with every chance they get.

I would like to offer a scenario as an example. Say you are invited to spend a week with your relatives in another country, who graciously offer to show you around as their guest. You could just as easily have hailed a cab or joined a tour and excluded them altogether, but you accept this opportunity as a way to get to know them better.

And boy oh boy, do you get to know them better! Right from the start their true colours start to emerge. The whole extended family lies in wait for you in a big van, and on the way to your hotel, they stop for refreshments at a local diner. Guess who has to pick up the dinner tab for 15-odd people? You! Nobody offers to do the honours, of course.

They pull this stunt again and again, and what little enjoyment can be extracted from their company is nullified by their selfishness and sheer bloody cheek.

A trip to two zoos goes the same way. Not only do you have to pay the entrance fees for 15 people, and food and refreshments on the way there and back, but you also have to fork out cash for the gasoline used during the trip. They do not even ask nicely. They just stop the car at a petrol station and expect you to pay as a matter of course.

Not once do they offer to give anything in return, except for some cheap souvenirs picked up from a thrift store that cannot add up to more than €10 in value.

If these people happen to read this letter, know this: ‘May the light from the bridges I burn show me the way.’ Consider this a letter of severance of relations.