Back tattoo spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E

DEAR AMY » Four months ago, I started dating a guy. We clicked really well.

We live three hours apart, so our relationship was mostly played out through texting and emails. We had so much fun getting to know each other, but I started to see little red flags: He’d get angry if I didn’t text him frequently, he seemed possessive, and he was pressuring me to push the relationship along faster than I wanted. I broke up with him. At first, he did not take it well and said a few hurtful things. After a few weeks he asked if we could be friends and keep in touch via text.

I agreed but made it clear that we are just friends.

He has asked several times if I would forgive him and move to an intimate relationship with him. Again, I told him that I was not interested in that but hoped that we could stay friends.

Amy, he just sent me a picture of his new tattoo. The tattoo is my name (with hearts) on his back!

I vacillate between being furious and just shrugging it off.

Can you offer any insight on what would make a man do such a ridiculous thing? After breaking up with someone, is it even possible to remain friends, or must I just always make a clean break? — Don’t Ink My Name

DEAR DON’T INK » A man would only do this sort of ridiculous thing in order to manipulate and control you.

In my opinion, you should be furious — and also “shrug it off.” What I mean is that you should not convey any particular strong emotion in response, but back away definitively from this person.

No, you cannot be friends with this man. You should not have any contact with him at all, and if he continues to leap over boundaries in order to be in touch with you, you should gather all the evidence and consider getting a restraining order.

I believe it is possible in some cases to transition into friendship when a romance doesn’t click, but it is only possible with rational, reasonable, emotionally healthy people. In short: NOT this guy.

DEAR AMY » “About to Explode!” was sick of being interrupted by their friend and housemate.

As a former interrupter, we don’t always realize we are doing this.

I, for one, used to get too excited about a subject and would inappropriately cut off someone.

My friends asked if there was something they could do to help me correct this communication error. We decided to use visual cues.

When I would interrupt, my friends would hold up a hand like a “stop” sign. After using this method for a bit, I curbed my jump-start on conversations. — No Longer Interrupting

DEAR INTERRUPTING » Communication — it works! Well done.