ArcaMax

DEAR HARRIETTE: My 16-year-old daughter is determined to completely isolate herself. She says she doesn't want any friends, so she acts very mean and disinterested in other kids at school and extracurricular activities. At home, she likes to stay in her room and read so she can avoid spending time with the family. It makes me so sad, because I'm...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I attended my high school reunion about 10 years ago, and while standing in line at the buffet, a former classmate told me, "Gee, you look a lot better than you did in high school."

I believe my response was "Thanks ... I think." Later this year, I will be attending another reunion, and am seeking your advice on an ...Read more

Dear Annie: Seven years ago, I retired and moved to a different state.

A friend of mine who lives in my old town has continuously used my new house like her personal hotel. She has family and friends in my area and will text, "Are you open to company?" when she wants to come visit. When she does, she only sleeps at my house while she does ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I am at my wits' end with "Barney," my husband of 35 years. He retired two years ago, but I am still working and likely will for several more years. I've worked from home successfully since long before the COVID-19 pandemic, which was fine while Barney was working. When he retired, I talked to him about respecting boundaries during ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: My husband and I fundamentally disagree on how to deal with a neighbor who has no boundaries. This guy has fallen on hard times and does virtually nothing to help himself. He has been offered jobs but doesn't take them. He wanders about almost like a homeless person except that he has lodging. He shows up at our door on a regular...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Is there an etiquette prohibition against airing one's dirty laundry? And I mean literally -- as from the balcony of a historic hotel facing a beautiful public park!

Perhaps a swimsuit on a chair, or in an inner courtyard balcony, but what are these people thinking, displaying their underwear? Could a fellow traveler hint at ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm going through a difficult divorce after 58 years of marriage to an alcoholic. Recently he told me two things I never knew: that he slept with my sister the night before our wedding and, years later, when they were both in the military, with a friend of mine.

I always knew my sister flirted with him. She'd tried the same with ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: Twenty-six years ago, I began what was supposed to be an affair with my current girlfriend, "Lacey." I was married at the time, and when my then-wife caught me, I was told we needed only to figure out who got what out of the marriage. Believing there was no salvaging the marriage, I took what was available and stayed with Lacey.

My ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: My mom keeps inviting my ex-husband to our family gatherings, even though I told her not to. She insists he is still a part of our family, especially since he and I have three children together. My ex-husband and I honestly aren't on great terms since our marriage ended due to him cheating on me, so I prefer not to see him at ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Friends and strangers often say to me, "Your hair is really long." While this is better than "you look tired," it is still not exactly a compliment, so I don't feel right saying "thank you."

Is there anything more interesting to say than "yes, it is"?

GENTLE READER: There are many more interesting responses. But as you are ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have now been married and divorced three times, with a total of over 37 years of married life. Though I doubt I will marry again at this stage of life, I would like to find a woman interested in a lasting, serious relationship. In trying online dating services, thus far I have found most women run the other way or quickly giving ...Read more

DEAR ABBY: I got permission from my estranged brother to invite his 17-year-old daughter, "Ella," to spend a month with my family this summer. We live on the East Coast, and she lives on the West Coast.

Ella is about to graduate from high school and has had a difficult home life and relationship with her dad and stepmother. After making her ...Read more

It's that time again, that magic season of change and rebirth. And it's in that spirit that I offer you the words of my son, Scott, the amazing next generation of my gene pool. You are about to digest his words exactly as he wrote them, unchanged and unedited, when he offered to pen the closing pages of my book on living single. I claim no ...Read more

DEAR HARRIETTE: My husband recently screwed over his business partner by taking significantly more of the profit for himself. I feel so appalled this is the man I married. I knew my husband was ambitious and very competitive, but I never thought he would intentionally take advantage of someone he had built a business with. His business partner ...Read more