Dear Queenie,
I love animals and I work in an animal shelter where sometimes there is a dog or a cat that needs more attention than it gets in the shelter, so I bring it home to take care of.
My boyfriend isn’t much interested in animals and gets annoyed when I bring one home. He says I already have too many pets and I should get another job where I won’t be tempted to get more.
Queenie, I just can’t let those animals suffer or be put to sleep. What can I do?—Dr. Doolittle
Dear Dr. Doolittle,
Don’t even think about finding another job! The one you have seems to suit you perfectly.
Instead, find another boyfriend! The one you have does not suit you at all.
Dear Queenie,
We love to entertain our friends in our home, but there is one couple that never wants to go home. Even after all the others have left they stay and stay until all hours of the night even though they know we have to get up early the next day.
Queenie, is there a polite way to tell them to go home?—Lingering Etty Ket
Dear Etty Ket,
It would help if, when you invite your guests, you make it plain how long the visit will be and about what time it will end, and doing so is not rude. If you have clearly set a time limit on the visit and a guest(s) stay past that limit, they are the rude one(s) and I see no reason to be especially polite to them. Feel free to tell them the visit is over and ask them to leave.
And you might want to consider limiting your socialising with such a person(s) to venues outside your home that close fairly early and/or where you can leave whenever you are ready, letting them stay on if they want to.
Dear Queenie,
My high school boyfriend left the island to go to university and stayed away for many years, but recently he came back here to live.
We’ve both been married and divorced but when we got together for a visit we both felt the same as when we were together in high school and we want to be together for the rest of our lives.
Queenie, could we have been in love with each other for all these years and not realized it?—Found true love at last
Dear True love,
Yes, it is quite possible. And this may be the reason your marriages did not last. I wish you the best in the years to come.
Dear Queenie,
Someone I know makes fun of other people when they make mistakes, even though that person makes plenty of mistakes themself, sometimes the same ones they have made fun of in other people.
Queenie, why do they act this way? Don’t they realize how foolish they make themself look?—Disgusted
Dear Disgusted,
Some people who aware of their own shortcomings try to build up their self-esteem and (unsuccessfully) try to avoid feeling foolish by tearing other people down. They are bullies, plain and simple.
Dear Queenie,
My ex-boyfriend dumped me a long time ago, but said he wanted to stay friends with me and since then he has called me or texted me to check up on how I am doing and tell me he misses me, but never anything about getting back together.
Queenie, I don’t get it. If he really cares for me why did he break up with me and if he doesn’t care why does he keep in touch?—Confused
Dear Confused,
He may be regretting the breakup and hoping you will give him another chance. On the other hand, he may get an ego boost from thinking about how much you must be missing him, which seems more than a little sadistic to me.
If you are willing to take the gamble, ask him if he would like to get back together. If you are not, stop answering his calls/texts and start looking for a more considerate boyfriend.
