DEAR ABBY: May I make a plea to all physicians? Please remove the magazines and children’s books from your waiting rooms! Again and again, I see patients sneezing and coughing over and around these materials without covering their mouths, and handling them with contaminated hands. The next patient who innocently touches one of those items […]

DEAR ABBY: Everyone knows the economy has hit hard times and, as a result, more people are working past the age of retirement. This means some in the workplace are beginning to deal with Alzheimer’s and other dementia- related illnesses. ”Anita” is in her late 60s and we are certain she is showing symptoms of […]

DEAR ABBY: What’s your opinion of having a double wedding and a double shower for two girls within the same family? Would it be appropriate to split the monetary gift since it combines the events? Please do not identify me because I have already expressed my dismay to another family member and was told that […]

DEAR ABBY: My husband has been talking about many married couples who take showers together. In fact, he claims that most couples do. Our relationship in the bedroom has been great so far, and I’d like to keep it there. I don’t want a twosome in the bathroom. Am I wrong to enjoy my privacy […]

DEAR ABBY: As a birth mother, I must respond to the letter from “Her Thankful Son” (Dec. 12). Nearly 26 years ago, I gave up my own son for adoption. It was the most devastatingly painful thing I have ever had to do. But I loved him enough to let him go because I was […]

DEAR ABBY: I met my husband, “Monty,” shortly after he lost his wife of 14 years. Monty has two dogs, but the one I have issues with is “Ginger.” I have never seen a dog act like her. Ginger acts more like a wife than a dog. She clings to Monty to the point he […]

DEAR ABBY: One of my sisters-in-law has a recipe for pancakes and puts in a secret ingredient. She got the recipe from a relative who asked that the mystery never be revealed. Well, the relative died recently, and I’d like to know what the ingredient is because those pancakes are out of this world! Would […]

DEAR ABBY: American society has become ultra-casual in dress and manners. When I look at old photographs, men and women used to dress better and seemed to take more pride in their appearance. Now they wear pajamas to shop, torn jeans to work and clothes that are too small for large bodies. I feel we […]

DEAR ABBY: How do I cope with the ending of a very long friendship? I saw warning signs for a couple of years, and tried many times to talk to my best friend about what seemed to be happening. Her values and priorities are moving in other directions now. I no longer feel appreciated as […]

DEAR ABBY: You advised “Susan in Southern Oregon” (Dec. 1), who asked about the appropriateness of giving alcohol as a gift at an office party, that “the only time that alcohol would be an inappropriate gift is when the giver knows the recipient doesn’t use it.” As a former psychiatric social worker, I would say […]