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,
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.
Dear Queenie,
I have been having an affair for a couple of years with a friend from high school who is married to someone else. Recently we haven’t been seeing each other so often and he keeps making excuses for it. I think maybe he has found another girlfriend and is cheating on me with her.
Queenie, should I let his wife know what has been going on and what is happening now?—The other woman
Dear Other woman,
If your lover would break his marriage vows and cheat on his wife, what makes you think he would not cheat on you? After all, he has not made any such commitment to you.
If you want to have it out with your lover, by all means do so, but why punish his wife for what he may have done to you?
My husband has been transferred in his job several times and each time we have had to move to a new place to live. We have lived in the same place for about 5 years, since before the COVID-19 pandemic, but now he is being transferred again.
Our younger (pre-teen) son hasn’t had any problem with all the moving. He seems to adjust to new places very well, but our teenager doesn’t want to leave all the friends he has in school.
My husband is willing to go ahead of us, get settled in the new place, and wait for our son to finish high school before we join him there, but I don’t want to have our family separated (or have to cope with living with a teenager without my husband there to help).
Queenie, what do you suggest?—Can’t decide
Dear Can’t decide,
Do not let your family be separated. Your older son can stay in touch with his old friends via social media and will have plenty of opportunity to make new friends in your new home.
I wish you good luck with your move and in your new home.
Dear Queenie,
My mother wants to have a family portrait taken on her 50th birthday, which is I think is a fine idea, but she wants all of us to dress alike in colors that I do not like and don’t look good in.
Queenie, how can I get her to let me dress well for the picture?—Reluctant daughter
Dear Daughter,
It is your mother’s landmark birthday. Why not go along with what she wants as your gift to her? Perhaps you can find some small accessory that will make you feel better about how you look in the picture.
