It still counts to be a good neighbor
Dear Annie: I am a woman in my 80s, and I like to sit and enjoy my daily morning cup of tea looking out of the upstairs window of my home. The window faces the street and has Venetian blinds that I can adjust horizontally.
One day, a male neighbor in his 40s was walking to his car that was parked on the street near the front of my house. He looked up at me and shouted at me to leave my window.
I was surprised that he even noticed me and that I was yelled at. I have been nervous to look out my window ever since.
Is window watching OK? — Window Watching
Dear Window Watching: Don’t let some overly paranoid and rude man ruin your morning ritual. Assuming you don’t have a pair of binoculars and are not disturbing anyone, keep looking out your window and enjoying your tea. No one has the right to take that away from you. In fact, one could ask what that man was doing looking up at your window.
All that said, in the interest of getting along, you could also introduce yourself and show him this column.
Quellin’ the generous
Dear Annie: After four years of a long-distance relationship, my fiance just moved from his home state to mine. He retired, and although he is financially stable, we still have to stay on a budget to be able to afford our living expenses, future travel and entertainment. We budget how often we can go out to dinner each week. We even budget our drinks.
Because I have lots of single girlfriends who love him and are excited for me, every time we go out to meet them for a drink or meal, they don’t budge on getting their wallets out when the bill comes, and my fiance feels obligated to get the whole bill so as not to look cheap. However, we are now in a position of having to go out less frequently or lower the quality of restaurants we go to.
Do I need to stop seeing my girlfriends or just meet them alone, where we can split the bill like we used to before he moved here? I just don’t know how to not sound cheap but make sure he isn’t always stuck with the bill. — Frustrated at the Single Gals
Dear Frustrated: Congrats on this new chapter of your love. If your friends love him that much, why are they treating him like a sugar daddy? I understand if he wants to be generous and pick up the bill a few times, but it is sort of rude of your friends to not even budge on getting out their wallets. Regardless of gender, no one likes to give when they feel the party they are giving to expects it and doesn’t appreciate it.
Perhaps you should just stick to girls’ night out and go back to splitting the bill. If you want your friends to get to know your boyfriend more, maybe have them over to the house, or wait until they find their own boyfriends and double-date.