ArcaMax

I know construction workers frequently do not wear their wedding rings due to possible injury.

I feel as if I am losing my mind! Help?

– Crushed

Dear Crushed: You could check social media (Facebook, etc.), to see if you can locate a profile for the object of your crush. His stated “status” might clear this up.

I am married to a builder, and I assure you that the men on his crew wear “work safe” wedding rings if they’re married. (I could say that the “risk of injury” applies more to what might happen at home if they didn’t.)

When I shared your question with my husband, he heartily encouraged you to go for it!

One benefit of that “high school” feeling is that the wacky energy you’re experiencing can propel you to be bold. You just need to steel yourself to accept the possibility of a gentle “no.”

I can’t help you to become less shy, but maybe I can inspire you.

Over a decade ago, under circumstances extremely similar to yours, I acted on my own crush (which incidentally launched me back more toward middle school than high school). I did it by utilizing my version of Napoleon’s legendary battle plan: “You engage. And then you wait and see.”

I got up the nerve to ask the handsome builder renovating my house out for coffee. After many years as a single parent, it was the bravest and best bid for romance I’ve ever dared to make. (My teenage daughter rolled her eyes – and cheered me on.)

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