ArcaMax

DEAR HARRIETTE: One of my co-workers keeps going to my boss about every little thing he thinks I'm doing "wrong" -- even when it's something minor, subjective or easily fixable. It feels like he's constantly monitoring me, waiting for any small mistake or oversight, and instead of coming to me directly, he escalates it to my supervisor. This has...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My husband and I have joined a fitness club. The policy of the gym is that members do not talk on their phones in the workout area.

While there is very little of that, many people do talk with each other and text on their phones. The problem is they sit on the machines while doing so -- sometimes for five or 10 minutes.

...Read more

Dear Annie: I am a 26-year-old woman deeply in love with someone my parents can't stand. He's not what they envisioned for me; he's rough around the edges, has tattoos, rides a motorcycle and works with his hands for a living. My parents like clean-cut, college-educated types in suits, and he's the complete opposite.

Yes, he has a bit of a "...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have been married 33 years, but the last 10 years have been extremely difficult. His attitude and selfishness during that time led me to strongly resent him.

He's now telling me he has changed and things will be different, that I am important to him and he will consider my thoughts, feelings, wants and needs going ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I had an intense relationship with a special man for nearly a year, and then he ghosted me. A few months later, he came back, but it has never been the same. He claims that his life is complicated right now, which includes him being out of work. I told him I could deal with that -- for a while, at least -- if he was attentive in ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have developmental prosopagnosia, or face-blindness, and cannot recognize any human faces. I work remotely in a profession that does not require me to interact directly with others. My husband watches TV and movies with me in case I confuse the characters, and goes to parties with me to help me know who I'm talking with.

I ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm a mom to a wonderful adult daughter, and we've always had a close bond. We live in the same neighborhood, and our grandkids can walk over to our house anytime. We spend a lot of time together as a family, and I cherish being a regular part of their lives.

My daughter's mother-in-law used to live out of state and only visited a...Read more

DEAR ABBY: My oldest sister has it in her head that since she's home all week, she needs to go out every Sunday. She started calling me every Saturday to invite me to accompany her, which I did a few times. In doing so, I realized she has mobility issues and the beginnings of dementia. She wants to go to these certain places where we would ...Read more

Starting at about second grade, when the novelty of reading about a family of bears started to wear off, I inhaled ghost stories. One of my favorites was "Wait Till Helen Comes" by Mary Downing Hahn. It was about dead kids, dead parents, and, the cherry on top of a trauma sundae, navigating a blended family.

I was lucky as a child. I didn't ...Read more

Dear Readers: Mother's Day arrives each year draped in flowers, breakfast trays and hand-drawn cards, but beneath the surface it carries so much more. It is a day of celebration, yes, but also one of reflection, gratitude and sometimes quiet ache.

To the mothers who are in the thick of it, wiping tears, packing lunches, offering hugs with one...Read more

DEAR ABBY: When my first wife and I were in our early 20s, she left me for another man. It was difficult, but I worked through it, learned to trust again and remarried a few years later.

This may be hard to believe, but 46 years later, my ex-wife thought it would be a good idea to try to connect through social media. I knew how to find her if I...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: I'm a newish mom. My daughter is approaching her first birthday, but I still feel like a newbie. Learning all the tricks of motherhood has been a whirlwind, but something I didn't expect to be so hard is the shift I've been feeling in so many of my adult relationships. I am the only one from my immediate friend group who is a ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: What is a polite way to refuse a hug with friends or strangers? What to do when my proffered handshake is batted away and a hug pursued instead?

Some men, especially, seem to want to hug me because of my large chest, and it seems more like sexual assault than a friendly gesture. And there are certain women (whom I do not ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm an avid gardener in a suburban neighborhood, and in turn, I meet lots of neighbors. There's one lady who keeps stopping by with questions about her yard, which I'm happy to help answer. She even asked if I would go with her to the local nursery to help her select new plants for her garden bed, to which I agreed.

She canceled ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I'm engaged to a delightful woman from a foreign country. She's a divorcee, and her 19-year-old son is doing well in college. She essentially raised him herself. Because of some spectrum disorder and ADHD symptoms, her son was apparently a handful. I am healthy, have multiple advanced degrees (including an M.D. and a Ph.D.), and have ...Read more