Short Answers / TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER

By Jeff Johnson and Paula Forman

Dear Short Answers:
Is it impolite to ask a good friend why they have stopped drinking?  It’s something we used to enjoy together but whenever I ask, she changes the subject.
Miss My Drinking Buddy

Dear Buddy:
YES it is impolite. In general, people who drank enough to have drinking buddies quit because they realize it has become a problem.  To continue to push the issue is not only rude, it suggests that you also have a problem.

IT COULD HAPPEN

Dear Short Answers:
My mother is moving into an assisted living facility and cannot take her two dogs with her. She has asked me to take care of them but my husband refuses to let me do that. He’s not allergic to dogs or anything like that, he just doesn’t like pets. I think that this is the least I can do for my mother who is going through enough drama in her life right now. Can a wife overrule a husband in this situation?
Want to Do the Right Thing

Dear Right Thing:
Two dogs, especially to a non-dog lover, seems like a lot — even to us. How about proposing to your husband that you “foster care” the dogs and look for good homes. We can also hope that with some coaching from you, the pups will charm your husband into reconsidering.

OUR REPTILIAN BRAIN

Dear Short Answers:
Do you think that open relationships can really work and that a couple can have sex with others but still be committed to each other?
Ted & Alice

Dear T&A:
Logically perhaps it could, but we have never ever seen that scenario cause anything but pain.

A CASE FOR RETIREMENT

Dear Short Answers:
I’m worried that my boss at work (who is only about 65 years old I think) is getting a bit senile. He forgets things, repeats himself and has these emotional outbursts that I never saw before. I don’t have the kind of relationship where I can just casually mention this. And we’re a small office so we don’t have a real HR department. I have read that you can’t do anything about Alzheimer’s (if that’s what this is) anyway so I’m not sure what good it would do to tell anybody. But somehow it seems wrong to keep this to myself.
Peg

Dear Peg:
It’s possible that he is stressed about things outside work — you could ask him. We are wary of making medical diagnoses and you should be too!

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY LOVING

Dear Short Answers:
My Grandparents are getting all hot about Valentine’s Day! I think it’s gross! Isn’t it?
Disgusted

Dear Disgusted:
We are worried about you. Just who DO you think gets to celebrate love? Only young people? Only beautiful people? Only straight people? Examine your attitudes darling, they are nasty.

IT’S A MATTER OF TASTE

Dear Short Answers:
How do you tell a friend that she needs a head to toe make-over? Its all wrong!
Would Love to Help

Dear Help:
Fools jump in. Friends wait to be asked.

 

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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