Dear Queenie,

  I was trying to fix up a friend of mine with a date with a woman I know from where I work, but when I showed him a picture of her he wasn’t interested. She is of a different race than he is and I would hate to think that that is why he wasn’t interested in her.

  Queenie, what do you think?—Would-be matchmaker

Dear Matchmaker,

  I think there could be any one (or more) of a number of reasons your friend was not interested in this woman. Perhaps he thought she was too old or too young for him, too fat or too skinny to be attractive, too tall or too short, too blonde or too brunette for his taste, too beautiful or not good-looking enough – the list goes on and on. Did you try asking him why he turned down your offer?

Dear Queenie,

  I got into some trouble when I was a teenager and got sent to detention. After I served my time and got released I finished my education, got a job, and never got in trouble again.

  I’ve started dating again and I need to know when to tell someone about my record. If I say anything too soon it will put them off. If I wait too long they will dump me for not saying anything sooner.

  Queenie, what do you say?—Ex-con

Dear Ex-con,

  This is not something for you to talk about on your first few dates. But once someone has had a chance to get to know you, around the third, fourth or fifth date, you should tell them. If your crime was not a violent one and you are not on an offenders list, your date should be willing to hear what you have to say and understand that you have turned your life around.

Dear Queenie,

  My husband’s son lives in another country. He has a pretty good job and mostly supports himself, and the only time we hear from him is when he wants to come visit us or he needs some money.

  Usually we are happy to have him visit us, but last Christmas my son and his family came and stayed with us for 2 weeks and when my stepson also wanted to come and stay with us we had to tell him no, we just didn’t have enough room for so many people.

  We suggested he come around Valentines Day instead and he said he’d think about it, but we never heard from him again even though we tried to call him and left a lot of messages.

  Queenie, how can we fix this mess?—Stepmother

Dear Stepmother,

  There is not much you can do about your stepson’s behaviour except keep trying to call him once in a while. But you probably will hear from him again when he needs money.

Dear Queenie,

  My father makes fun of my mother and criticizes her all the time. I never hear him say anything nice to her. I tried to talk to him about this but he just got mad at me.

  Queenie, how can I convince my mother that she should leave him?—Worried daughter

Dear Daughter,

  There are many reasons women stay with men who abuse them. Your mother may simply be in love with your father. She may think she has no other choice than to stay with him. She may be financially dependent on him, afraid of being alone, or, if you still live with your parents, just waiting until you move out so as not to leave you alone with him. You cannot convince your mother to leave your father until you understand why she has not already done so.