Short Answers

By Jeff Johnson and Paula Forman

DISGUSTING

Dear Short Answers:
Since I do all the cooking at home, my husband does the dishes. The problem is that he does a HORRIBLE job at it.  He refuses to run the dishwasher until it’s packed so full that half the dishes don’t get clean.  But he still puts them away even if they are dirty so I end up washing them by hand when I use them.  How do I teach a grown man how to do the dishes properly?
LAV

Dear LAV:
Words like unsanitary and unsightly ought to do it.

DADDY DAY CARE AT THE BEACH

Dear Short Answers:
My wife is planning a beach vacation with three of her best friends from college. Everybody is married and everybody has young kids. The girls have rented a big house where we are all going to stay. It may sound fun to her but I am having second thoughts. From her conversations with her girlfriends, the plan is for the husbands to take care of the kids while the wives party. I have suggested that I stay home with the children and she can party with her friends all she wants. But she wants me and the kids to go and says that the whole point was for all four families to be together. Do you think I really have to go? Shouldn’t a vacation be something you WANT to do??
Dad

Dear Dad:
Give this plan a shot.  In fact give it your best. Some vacations are for the wife and kids — don’t ruin it for them, or undermine your own efforts by being grumpy about it. You might even have fun.

RIGHT TO BARE ARMS

Dear Short Answers:
I recently read an article that said if you have tattoos on your arms, you should cover them when you go on a job interview. Isn’t this being a bit dishonest?
Open Book

Dear Open:
We have found that attitudes toward tats vary considerably more than we might have suspected.  We don’t think it’s dishonest to wear sleeves on an interview, in fact it is probably appropriate — tattoos or not. Interviews are about job-related skills — why confuse the issue with extraneous “data”?

RECIPROCITY

Dear Short Answers:
I have a very close friend who has always lived more lavishly than she could afford. Even though we advised her against it, many of her friends (including myself) benefited from her purchases – she bought us all wonderful Christmas gifts and paid for dinners and drinks whenever we went out. She has now found herself on hard times and has asked us to “pay her back” for what she spent. I don’t know what to do. I would never have bought the things she gave to me and I don’t think I should have to reward her for poor financial behavior. But she is a friend and I want to do what’s right. Should I pay up?
Am I Cheap?

Dear Cheap:
No, you’re not cheap. Her expectations are out of line. On the other hand, you could buy your friend drinks/dinner since she’s down on her luck.

LOVE AND MONEY

Dear Short Answers:
What is the right amount of money to donate to charities every year?
JonnyB

Dear JonnyB:
Depends on how you define “charity” doesn’t it?

Life is complicated. “Short Answers” isn’t.

Send a question about whatever is bothering you to [email protected] or go to www.shortanswers.net and a psychologist and sociologist will answer. A selection of the best questions will be printed every week in KonkLife.

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