DEAR ABBY: While standing in a checkout line yesterday, I witnessed a cashier speak to the older woman in front of me in a condescending manner. She kept calling her “Sweetie” and talking to her as if she were a 3-year-old. The woman was obviously offended, but said nothing. I experienced this kind of behavior […]

DEAR ABBY: I am a 17-year-old senior in high school. My boyfriend, “Kenny,” is 18 and goes to college five hours away. I’d like to visit him over the weekend sometime, but I need my parents’ permission. Mom is OK with it, as long as I take the train (she doesn’t want me driving that […]

DEAR ABBY: I am 67 and my roommate is 62. He and I could be out dating every night of the week. We get calls here like it is a fraternity house. I think it’s because we know how to treat women. I hear other men our age complain they can’t get a date or […]

DEAR ABBY: You advised “Jealous of the Four-Legged Mistress” (Jan. 31) that her husband, “Monty,” needs to “put her in a higher rank in the pack,” because he pays more attention to “Ginger,” the dog, than he does his wife. My heart ached for Ginger. She’s clinging to the one parent she has left and […]

DEAR ABBY: When my husband is mad at me, he will recite all the good things he has done for me, but “forgets” all but one or two things I have done for him. I try to be considerate and caring every single day, and when I can’t recite the list of the good things […]

SAILOR’S MOM IS TOUCHED BY PUBLIC’S APPRECIATION DEAR ABBY: I’m the mother of a U.S. Navy sailor who has been the recipient of random acts of kindness from complete strangers. I was most affected personally when a woman stopped us in a large parking garage in Chicago to say, “Thank you for your service, young […]

DEAR ABBY: I recently ran into “Grace,” who was a dear friend back in elementary school. Back then my parents helped her mother flee and divorce her abusive husband. At age 12 we lost touch because Grace moved to another school and joined a “bad crowd.” Eighteen years later I was happy to see her […]

DEAR ABBY: My 3-year-old son is terminally ill. My sister-in-law, “Anita,” has a son who is a year old. Anita always wants to compete for attention between the two boys. She makes nasty comments to family members, suggesting that her son is ignored while mine gets all the attention. No one says anything to her […]

DEAR ABBY: I’m responding to the letter from “Craving the Cakes in Florida” (Jan. 30), complaining that her sister-in-law wouldn’t reveal the secret ingredient in a late relative’s pancake recipe. As a cook who has many of my own kitchen secrets, I’d be upset if one of my family members were to reveal them to […]

DEAR ABBY: I am a 50-year-old gay man. On New Year’s Eve, there was a block party on the street I live on. My neighbors, “Tim” and “Marie,” are a good-looking 30-ish couple. I was watching the fireworks when Marie sat down next to me and said, “Tim and I would like to get to […]