Dear Queenie,
I don’t always dress my baby girl in pink or always in dresses. A lot of her things are pants sets or rompers in other colours and a few of them are even blue and often people who don’t know me assume she is a boy if she’s not wearing a pink dress.
So Queenie, what do I say when someone compliments me on my cute little son?—Vexed mother
Dear Vexed,
Just smile and say, “Thank you, but she is a girl!”
Dear Queenie,
I asked this girl I like for a date and she turned me down flat. I asked her why she wouldn’t go out with me and she said she would never date anyone who smokes.
Queenie, what kind of excuse is that? What do you think she really meant?—Rejected
Dear Rejected,
I think it was not an excuse. I think she really meant exactly what she said.
People who smoke are often unaware of or oblivious to the fact that the smell of cigarette (or cigar) smoke tends to cling to their clothes, skin, hair and breath. This can pose an actual health hazard to someone else who has asthma or allergies, and even without a health hazard the smell can be quite offensive to a non-smoker.
The young lady simply may not want to hang out with someone who smells like a dirty ashtray or risk ever having to kiss someone who tastes like one.
Dear Queenie,
I work in an office where we all have name plates on our desks as well as on the office doors for those who have private offices. However, there’s this one person who spells my name wrong whenever he leaves me a note or sends me an e-mail.
I find this very annoying. It’s not as if he can’t see for himself how my name is spelled.
Queenie, how would you handle this?—Mis-spelled
Dear Mis-spelled,
I work in a journalistic setting where the very first professional rule is “GET THE NAMES RIGHT!!!” and yet this same thing has happened to me.
My solution: Return any communication with your name mis-spelled to the sender with a note: “Nobody here by that name. My name is … (spelled correctly).” And ignore the content until your name is spelled correctly (unless it is urgent, will affect the quality of your own work, or comes from your boss).
Dear Queenie,
My girlfriend has a habit of talking about her previous boyfriends and things they used to do together.
Queenie, I get so tired of hearing about her exes. How can I get her to stop talking about them?—Not interested in her past
Dear Not interested,
Have you told your girlfriend how you feel about her reminiscing? If not, do so at once – gently, please. If you have told her so already, remind her – again, gently please.
If she cares about how you feel, she will stop talking about her past, or at least try to talk about it less. If she does not – well, then, you will know what to think.
Dear Queenie,
This woman where I work talks all the time about her boyfriend and his children that she lives with, but it turns out that my husband knows the boyfriend and he still lives with his wife and their children.
Queenie, should I tell everyone what a liar she is?—I know the truth
Dear Know the truth,
No, do not say anything to your colleagues.
However, the next time this woman starts telling her stories, you might tell her that your husband knows her boyfriend. And your husband might mention to the man in question that you work with this woman who claims to be his girlfriend
