Dear Queenie,
Some friends of ours do not have soap in their bathroom. We take soap with us when we visit them, but unless they do too, nobody else can wash their hands properly after they go to the toilet. And we are concerned that our friends prepare food for us to eat when they have not been able to wash their hands properly.
We have tried giving them fancy soaps and a fancy soap dish, but things don’t change.
Queenie, what more can we do?—Concerned friends
Dear Friends,
Maybe your friends take soap with them when they go to the bathroom, but do not leave it there. And there should be soap there for visitors.
Have you talked to your friends about this? Try showing them this letter and hope things improve.
Dear Queenie,
The grown-up daughter of a friend of mine recently died in a car accident. My friend, who lives away from here with her new husband, did not come to her daughter’s funeral.
Queenie, shouldn’t I be shocked?—Shocked friend
Dear Friend,
Is it possible that your friend and her daughter were estranged? Or your friend may have health or financial problems that prevented her from travelling.
Let your friend know that you were surprised by her absence. If she explains, all well and good, but let it go at that.
Dear Queenie,
I have a good job and have to dress well for it. My wife is a stay-at-home mother.
I need to buy good clothes to wear for my job, but my wife gets mad about the money I spend on them when she can’t get the new clothes she wants.
Queenie, what do you say about this?—Her husband
Dear Husband,
If this is a financial problem, I recommend professional financial advice.
If the problem is not, or is more than, financial, I recommend professional marriage counselling.
Dear Queenie,
I see letters to advice columns complaining that people do not send thank you notes for gifts they receive.
My wife and I are older, grandparents and even great-grandparents. Once we learned to use our cell phones for texting this wasn’t a problem any more.
Queenie, you tell them!—Contented grandmother
Dear Grandmother,
Here it is. Thank you for your suggestion.
Dear Queenie,
My wife gets mad if someone, especially children, starts to eat before she has put all the food on the table.
Queenie, she said she was going to write to you about this, so here it is. What do you say?—Dinner-time Etty Ket
Dear Etty Ket,
I think it is not realistic to expect a hungry person, especially a child, not to eat if there is food right in front of them, except at a formal dinner party. Children should learn proper table manners, but keep it within reason.
