Traveling with sister-in-law means unending chatter and complaints

Dear Abby: How can I explain that I’d like to try traveling solo (or worse, with someone else) to my overly sensitive sister-inlaw? We have known each other for many years. I am divorced, and she’s widowed. We have been on a handful of trips together in recent years, and after every one of them, I said to myself, “Never again!” She can be annoying.

She talks ALL THE TIME and complains nonstop. Her feelings are easily hurt, and she’s the least self-aware person I know. I have traveled with friends without any issues. I asked a couple of them about this, but got no answers. She already asked, “Where will we go next?”

Help!

— Bothered Beyond Belief

Dear B.B.B.: Do not raise the subject of travel with her. Make plans with someone with whom you would like to enjoy the experience and, when your SIL asks, respond honestly. Tell her — as gently as you can — that it’s not going to happen because the last times you traveled together she complained nonstop and spoiled the trip for you. If she has amnesia, give her chapter and verse.

Dear Abby: My wife and I and four friends were waiting to be served at a restaurant. All four of them began staring at their cellphones. Because I am not a cellphone owner and I spotted a magazine on a nearby table, I picked it up and started reading it.

When we got home, my wife said she had been ashamed of my rudeness.

Do you think I was rude?

— Tit For Tat in Texas

Dear T.F.T.: Under the circumstances, no, I do not think you were rude. In light of the fact that the others were staring at their cellphones, you should have pleaded self-defense and been found not guilty.