Uncle sends shocking ‘sext’

I am heartbroken. I have an uncle “Tony” I’m close to, who is like my best friend. I was sending him pictures of a football game and he sent me back a very inappropriate picture of himself. He says it was a “mistake,” that it was supposed to go to his wife, but the text message he sent with it showed different.

I don’t want to be around him. I’m disgusted and hurt over this. I need advice. What do I do? — Heartbroken in Georgia

Share the photo and texts with your parents and ask what they think about them. Then ask if they think you should forward the picture and text message to your aunt with a note explaining Uncle Tony said they were meant for her, and you didn’t want her to miss them.

Because he makes you uncomfortable, listen to your intuition and keep your distance because what he did was appalling.

I’m a female working full-time in an office with all men. Yesterday afternoon, I ate a salad that contained several varieties of beans. I was standing outside my boss’s office, laughing at a joke one of the salesmen was telling when the beans got the best of me and I passed gas.

I was mortified and wanted to sink

HOROSCOPE

through the floor! I patted the salesman on the arm and said, “I guess that’s what I think of the joke,” and walked back into my office. I didn’t know what else to say or do. Today I can’t look either of them in the face.

Since this seems to be something that happens to older people (I’m 69), and it’s something we often don’t have total control over — please tell me how to “recover.” — Beans, the Musical Fruit

Stop beating yourself up over this. Expelling gas is normal. According to the National Institutes of Health, the average person passes gas about 14 times a day — although probably not as spectacularly as you did.

If it happens again, don’t try to be funny. Just say, “Excuse me,” and if the “toot” is a fragrant one, distance yourself. 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 www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

Good advice for everyone — teens to seniors — is in “The Anger in All of Us and How to Deal With It.” To order, send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Anger Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447.

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Paul — 31 “Get real!”

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