Worried about husband’s promiscuous co-worker
Dear Annie: My husband of 23 years has been working for a four-man department for that whole time. One man retired, so they will be hiring another person. A very qualified young man and a married woman applied for the job. They are planning on hiring the woman. She currently works in a different department and is known for having a married man frequent the department for sexual relations.
The men in my husband’s department know about this but say that as long as her work gets done, it’s not their business. I am friends with this man’s wife. I don’t know whether I should tell her. I think she may know, because it’s a small town and everyone seems to know about it. Am I wrong to think they should hire the qualified man instead of the hot woman who likes married men? My husband thinks I’m overreacting. — Staying Faithful Dear Staying Faithful: There are two issues here. To the question of whether to tell your friend that her husband is cheating — if you are absolutely sure he is cheating, then yes. Tell her. But be 100 per cent certain you’re not sounding a false alarm.
To the question of whether that woman should be hired in your husband’s department — well, I haven’t seen her resume. But the co-workers are correct. As long as she does her job well and keeps things professional, her personal life is none of their business.
Dear Annie: I’d like to add my congratulations to yours to “Been There, Done That,” if I may, for earning a college degree later in life. I’d also love to add further encouragement for “Better Late Than Never?” — the person who was wondering whether he should bother trying to earn a degree in his 40s.
Doris Eaton Travis, the last of the Ziegfeld Follies, who passed away in the spring of 2010 at the age of 106, fulfilled one of her life’s fondest wishes by earning her bachelor’s degree at the age of 88. She majored in history, her favourite subject. She began an oral report on the First World War thus: “I am probably the only person you ever will meet who knew Woodrow Wilson.”
I had several opportunities to meet this remarkable woman but am especially glad that I got to thank her for heading my own pending mid-life crisis off at the pass. The first time I met her, when she was 99, she told me I was very cute but, at age 38, I was a little too old for her. I blushed! I had no business feeling old myself.
She came every year to the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Easter Bonnet presentation here in New York City and danced, usually in the opening number. Two weeks or so after her last Easter Bonnet performance, she went to sleep and simply didn’t wake again. — Greg in New York
Dear Greg: It sounds as if she was a remarkable woman who made her mark on the world. Thanks for sharing such an inspiring story.
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