Patron bruised and battered in altercation with waitress

Dear Abby: My husband and I were getting ready to leave a restaurant we’ve patronized for 15 years. I went to the ladies’ room and was washing my hands when a waitress came barging in, got in my face and started yelling at me. I tried to leave, but she wouldn’t let me out of the restroom. When she finally let me go, I told the manager in charge what she did.

My husband called him later, but the manager believed the waitress, who said that I started it. The encounter left red marks all over my arm, but the manager didn’t care. The offender has since moved out of state. I’m 74 and was tempted to go to the police but didn’t. Should I have? — Beaten Up In California

Dear Beaten Up: There is probably more to this story than what you have written, but yes, you should have notified the police. You were assaulted and imprisoned in that restroom. Had you contacted the police and gone to an emergency room, you would have had proof of what the woman did to you.

Dear Abby: My older sister has just been diagnosed with cervical cancer. The HPV vaccine might have protected her from it had it been available to our generation.

A few of us were out to lunch recently, and when I asked a younger sister if her granddaughter had received the vaccine, she went off on me like I had asked something

terrible. Do you think I was wrong for asking? —

Concerned Sister Dear Concerned Sister:

I don’t think your question was offensive. However, because it was asked in front of friends, she may have interpreted it as an implication that her granddaughter is sexually active, which made her defensive.

Dear Abby: My husband of more than 20 years just purchased plane tickets to India. It’s a 24-hour trip from the USA. My problem is, he is sitting in business class, while I’m in economy. We have plenty of money, but he simply doesn’t want to spend it. He’s older and has health concerns and mobility issues.

Am I right to feel hurt and consider his love of money may be stronger than his love for me? Or should I be content and happy I’m going to a beautiful country? — Feeling

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Dear Feeling: Of course you should be happy that you will be visiting a beautiful country. Content, no. You have a right to be upset at your penny-pinching husband for providing less comfortable accommodations for you than he has arranged for himself on that long flight. Upgrade your seat! Make clear that the two of you either sit together or he’ll be sitting first-class in the doghouse. Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069 or visit