DEAR ABBY: I hope you can help me pass along some tips on drive-through etiquette to your readers. I work in the fast food industry, and on behalf of my fellow workers, may I dish out the following: Please have a general idea of what you’d like BEFORE you reach the speaker. The corporate office […]

DEAR ABBY: What do you think about people who attempt to converse with you from another room? My boyfriend does it fairly often. He may be on the computer while I’m reading or watching TV, and he’ll yell out a question or tell me something. Most of the time I answer him, but then he’ll […]

DEAR ABBY: I caught my 16-year-old daughter, “Krista,” smoking marijuana. I punished her for it, but never told my wife because I was afraid she’d force me to make a decision that I don’t want to make. I have been married to my second wife for three years. For much of that time, Krista has […]

DEAR ABBY: May I respond to “Iowa Reader” (Nov. 10), the older woman who asked you where to turn when she needed to be hugged and listened to? I’m guessing she was married a long time and doesn’t have any real friends — just people from her married days. I suggest she get a dog. […]

DEAR ABBY: My 18-year-old-daughter, “Olympia,” is a beautiful, intelligent young woman who graduated from high school last spring, was accepted to two universities and started her first job. When she lost it recently, she was devastated. Instead of trying to find another one, she decided to turn to prostitution. When I asked her why, she […]

DEAR ABBY: I’m 23, the only child of a controlling, paranoid, hermit-like and hyper-religious mother and a peace-loving, passive father. I graduated from college last year. Shortly after, my boyfriend and I accepted dream jobs in the same town several hours away from my parents. Mom was appalled. She “warned” me that I wouldn’t last […]

DEAR ABBY: I’m a 40-year-old female in the military who has been married for a few years. When I got married, I was slim, had a full head of beautiful, long hair and hardly any medical problems. Over the last couple of years I have developed a host of medical issues, all related to the […]

DEAR ABBY: I retired two years ago at age 50 after working for 30 years. My wife and I are financially secure and I’m enjoying every day of my retirement. However, my wife — who is younger — won’t be eligible to retire from her job for another five years. She is becoming more and […]

DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend, “Cole,” and I have been together since college — several years now. We have a loving relationship, but the problem is distance. My job sometimes requires me to take short-term (two- to five-month) contracts in other cities and overseas. Even though it is difficult to be apart, I handle long-distance relationships […]

DEAR ABBY: I have been accepted to a school that’s the alma mater of several of my relatives. My mother, several aunts and other family members all belonged to one sorority at this college. They are urging me to pledge there and uphold the family tradition. They say they had some of the best times […]