Dear Annie: I work for a major corporation, and I like my job. However, my boss has betrayed me.
She is single, and I wanted to set her up with a friend of my boyfriend. She sent me her picture, and my boyfriend asked me to send the pic to his phone so he could send it to his friend. Instead of doing that, however, he texted my boss all night long. He asked her to be discreet and not tell me.
She showed me all of his text messages, and I broke up with him. A few months later, he apologized and said he was drunk when it happened, and we got back together. While we were apart, he washed the clothes I’d left there and packed them in a canvas bag. When he gave me the bag, I noticed it had my boss’s name on it in her own handwriting. That means she was at his place with an overnight bag.
I confronted her with this information, and she wouldn’t even make eye contact. She said I was crazy. My boyfriend said the same thing. I need to know what to do. — Hurt and Confused in Torrance, Calif.
Dear Torrance: So, worst-case scenario, your boss and your boyfriend slept together. Do you believe it won’t happen again? Can you forgive them? If so, tell them that and put this behind you. If not, decide whether you want to keep your job and your boyfriend, because you won’t be able to trust either of them.
Dear Annie: I am a nurse at a walk-in clinic. When did it become OK for parents to help themselves to exam gloves and tongue depressors for the purpose of entertaining their children?
It is not unusual to walk into the exam room and find several gloves that have been blown up and are being batted around and children running around the room with tongue depressors in their hands. These medical supplies cost the facility money and are meant for medical use, not party favors. It also is not safe to hand a 3-year-old a tongue depressor. We have stickers that are more appropriate.
When my children were little, I would never dream of opening containers in the doctor’s office. Is this appropriate behavior? Do people believe they are entitled to these supplies because of the cost of medical care? Or are they simply ignorant? — Baffled Nurse in Indiana
Dear Indiana: We’ve seen doctors and nurses give these gloves and tongue depressors to children to keep them occupied, so it’s not a big stretch for parents to think it’s OK to do the same. Those folks who are caught depressor-red-handed should be told not to do that in the future. Also, try posting a sign asking patients not to take these items. Otherwise, the best you can do is store them in a locked drawer or cabinet.
Dear Annie: Thank you for your wonderful advice to “Maine Husband” concerning his family’s demands while he cares for his disabled wife.
There are 3,500,000 current spousal caregivers in America. We lose our best friend, our lover, our future — half the team that supports income, raises the kids and runs the home. We often sublimate our own health and needs to care for our spouse.
The nonprofit Well Spouse Association is the only national peer-to-peer support group dedicated solely to partners providing long-term care, regardless of the underlying illness. Only someone who has been there can truly understand what it takes to maintain your own self when caring for a spouse.
Please share with your readers that at www.wellspouse.org we understand and can
help. You are not alone. — Lawrence Bocchiere III, President Well Spouse(tm) Association
“Annie’s Mailbox” is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar. This column was originally published in 2016. To find out more about Classic Annie’s Mailbox and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit Creators Syndicate at www.creators.com.
