Dear Queenie,
A woman in our neighbourhood lets her two pre-school children run around outside naked in her yard and sometimes even out in the street.
Queenie, am I being prudish? How old should children be when this is no longer okay?—Offended Neighbour
Dear Neighbour,
Children older than 3 should not be naked in public, no child of any age should be playing outside that way without adult supervision, and no child of any age should be playing in the street, naked or clothed. Have you mentioned your concern to your neighbour? If so, and they have ignored your concern, perhaps you should have a word with the juvenile authorities and/or the Court of Guardianship.
Dear Queenie,
My wife and I have friends over for dinner quite often, but I have noticed that some of them never invite us to their house or take us out to eat.
Queenie, why do you think that is?—Always the host, never the guest
Dear Host,
Perhaps your friends cannot afford to entertain you the way you entertain them, or maybe they were never taught that it is rude not to reciprocate someone’s hospitality. Have you tried asking them about this (as tactfully as you can manage)?
Dear Queenie,
My girlfriend and I have been going together all through high school, but now we’re going to graduate and then I’ll be going away to university. I told her we could be together as much as possible until I go away, but after that it wouldn’t be fair for either of us with me away for most of the year. Now she is mad at me because she says I am going to just abandon her.
Queenie, how can I make her understand?—Soon-to-be graduate
Dear S-t-b Graduate,
Try to make your girlfriend understand that you are not just going to abandon her. These days it will be easy for you to keep in touch with each other via social media while you are away at school and you can continue to go out together when you come home on vacations, but both of you also should be free to see other people while you are away at school.
Dear Queenie,
When I was a teenager my parents got divorced because my father kept getting involved with other women. My mother didn’t make his affairs part of the divorce proceedings, but she told me that was the reason for them breaking up. A couple of years after the divorce my father married one of his other women.
Now my father is in his 80s and he claims that he never knew why my mother wanted to divorce him.
Queenie, I wish he would be more honest about it all!—Disgusted daughter
Dear Daughter,
It is quite possible that, at his age, your father does not remember clearly what happened so long ago. Is he showing any other signs of mental failure? Try to be patient with him.
Dear Queenie,
I work in a store that has our business hours clearly posted at the entrance. So why do people come knocking on the doors before we are open? And why do they come running in at the last minute before we close and then take forever to find whatever they came to get?
Queenie, we still have work to do after we close and we have already had a looong day! What’s the matter with them?—Tired employee
Dear Employee,
Perhaps the early birds are trying to do business with you on their way to work and will be penalised if they arrive late on their job. And perhaps the late arrivals were stuck at work and couldn’t get to your store any sooner.
Try to remember that pleasing your customers is the key to business success, and if you will not give them some leeway in relation to your business hours they are free to shop somewhere else – and probably will do so if you cannot or will not accommodate them.
