Dear Queenie,

I do private tutoring and very often a student will miss a session and then the parents don’t want to pay. That is a financial loss for me, because I could have been working with someone else in that time if I hadn’t reserved it for the one who didn’t show up.

Queenie, shouldn’t they have to pay for missed sessions?—Cheated

Dear Cheated,

Of course they should pay if they miss a session without sufficient advance notice. But you will have to make it clear to the parents from the start that this is your policy and how much advance notice you will expect. And inform your current students’ parents of this new policy at least a month before you put it into effect, to give them a chance to adjust to it.

Dear Queenie,

I was at a friend’s dinner party the other night and when I looked around half the guests were too busy messing around on their cell phones to talk to the other guests. When I tried to make conversation with someone next to me they got mad at me for interrupting what they were doing on their cell phone.

I was so disgusted that I asked them right out why they bothered to come to the party if they weren’t going to talk to anyone and I said if they were just going to be on their cell phones all night they might as well have stayed at home.

Queenie, what’s wrong with them?—Too much tech

Dear Too much tech,

In effect, they are so “addicted” to their gadgets that they get uncomfortable if they have to let go of them for more than a few minutes. Also, they become so accustomed to communicating via their devices that they seem to lose the ability to interact with others directly in person.

I have often been tempted to invest in a cell phone “scrambler” that would make my home a “dead zone” for cell phone communication for the duration of an event I am hosting. I have not done so as yet, but the temptation is getting stronger and stronger.

Dear Queenie,

My father is drunk half the time and when he gets drunk he gets nasty.

My wife is pregnant with our first child and we would like the baby to know its grandfather, but not when he is drunk.

Queenie, what do you suggest?—Father-to-be

Dear Father-to-be,

Talk to your father about your concerns and see if you can persuade him to try to sober up for the baby’s sake. If he is willing to try, put him in touch with Alcoholics Anonymous – see Agenda on page 2 of this newspaper for contact information and schedule of meetings.

And until you are certain he has his drinking under control, do not allow your father to be with the baby unsupervised.

Dear Queenie,

When my niece got married we asked her mother what would be a good wedding gift and she said “money” so we sent a generous check.

However, we never received a thank-you note and according to our bank the check was never cashed, so we asked her mother whether she had received it. Her mother said “yes,” but the bride was embarrassed to receive such a large amount and refused to cash the check.

Queenie, shouldn’t the bride have thanked us anyway?—Offended aunt

Dear Offended,

Of course. If she did not want to accept the gift, the bride at least should have thanked you for your kind thought and returned the cheque to you with an explanation as to why she felt she could not accept it.

And just for the record, I have heard complaints from recipients about stingy (too small) gifts, but never that a gift was too generous. This is really one for the books!