She’s tired of tricks by Halloween punks
Dear Abby: I am a retired widow, crippled with rheumatoid arthritis. Every October, I start dreading Halloween, which I consider to be a legal form of extortion. Living on Social Security, I really don’t want to waste money for candy. Also, it is difficult for me to get up and down every five minutes to hand out candy. Too many of the “children” are 16- to 19-year-old males. I have tried keeping the lights off and “hiding” in my bedroom, but I wake the next morning to find toilet paper in my trees and shrubbery. Do you have any suggestions?
Grouchy Grandma in Austin, Texas
Dear Grandma: Yes. Because what you’ve done hasn’t worked, buy a large bag of inexpensive candy — they are often for sale at this time of year — and when the “extortionists” knock on your door, pay up.
Because your physical condition makes it difficult for you to get up and down, enlist the help of a relative or neighbor to help you dole it out, or leave the bowl outside by your door with a note saying: “Take ONE.”
Dear Abby: I have been HIVpositive for more than 20 years, and I am in good health. I never told anyone in my family about it. I have now returned to my hometown after being away for 40-plus years.
I want to tell my father and brothers that I’m HIV-positive, but I don’t want to alarm them, or have them start meddling in my life. I feel like I’m lying by not telling them. What should I do?
I’ve Got a Secret
Dear Got a Secret: Maintaining one’s privacy is not lying. Because your intuition tells you that if you disclose your HIV status to your family they will be alarmed or start meddling, don’t do it. You’re in good health, your HIV is being well managed, and the only person who has to know is your sex partner.
Dear Abby: If I name my son after myself, he will be called “Jr.” or “the II.” But what if my wife named her daughter after herself ?
I have never heard of it happening, but I just wondered. Would she be called “Jr.” or “the II,” too?
Harry in Athens, Ga.
Dear Harry: According to Emily Post, the answer is yes. Junior, Senior, II and III are suffixes used by men but can also be used by women.