Dad’s pattern of bullying

I have not spoken to my father in months. This followed a phone conversation with him during which he asserted that the real reason a certain government leader is so hateful is because the leader is fat and bald.

During this conversation, my father crossed the line and made extremely personal attacks toward people close to me, implying that being overweight or bald would lead to people becoming hateful.

I asked him multiple times to please stop. He buckled down to defend his point of view each time I asked him to stop.

I told him I was becoming furious at the personal attacks and prejudice, as well as his failure to recognize that I was asking him to stop. He did not stop, so I hung up.

Since then, he has only said that he is sorry that I was offended by what he said — a classic nonapology.

We live thousands of miles apart. My father has a tendency to offend and then just wait until the other person eventually caves in, pretending like nothing happened.

I’m not the type to normally hold a grudge, but he really did some damage, and I can’t shake it. Can you suggest a healthy way to move forward?

Dear Upset: This is not really about how ridiculous his assertion is. This is about your father baiting and bullying you, and about you taking the bait, absorbing the bullying, and then being furious for months.

This is his pattern, so in the future you might see this behavior coming down the pike, and instead of asking him to stop (he won’t) and then asking him to apologize (he won’t), you could say, “Well, this has gotten pretty ridiculous, so I’m going to talk to you another time, Dad.” And then you hang up.

Bullies receive their fuel from others’ reactions: fear, intimidation, bewilderment — along with the drama of dominance. Don’t feed the beast. Laugh about it.

If you want to continue to have a relationship, you’ll have to retrain him that when this sort of thing starts, you will disengage.

I suggest that you drop this specific issue, and work on your long-distance retraining and detachment from his ridiculousness.

Dear Amy: I divorced four years ago. Our divorce has been quite amicable. I am proud of how we have handled it. We have remained friends, although from a distance.

I have also remained friends with my ex’s family, and refer to them as my sister-in-law and mother-inlaw, even though that is technically inaccurate now.

I guess at this point I should really call them my friends rather than in-laws, but I think in-laws gives them a special place in my life forever.

A few of my friends say that it is inappropriate for me to continue doing so. Who is right? Does it even matter? Wondering

Dear Wondering: You are right. Furthermore, your friends don’t get the last word on what is or isn’t appropriate regarding these family members.

This in-law relationship matters to you, and so you should continue to honor it in whatever way you choose. If you remarried, you might choose to refer to your ex’s family members as your “former in-laws,” for clarity’s sake.