DEAR ABBY: My sister has a squawky bird she insists on keeping alongside the dinner table when she invites guests for dinner. Its ear-piercing screeching inhibits guests’ ability to hold on normal conversation, so I asked her if, in the long run, she could please put the bird in one other room during dinner. She responded that the bird is a member of the family. I said, “So are children, but they aren’t permitted to run across the dining table screeching when there’s company over.”
This yr, once we returned for one more dinner, she pulled the bird and its cage even closer to the table and the person sitting next to her than last time. She apparently decided the comfort of her guests shouldn’t be as necessary as her closeness to the bird.
I don’t know methods to address this in the long run when she disregards my feedback. Apart from the squawking, it’s not appealing to have a birdcage pulled up alongside a dinner table, or to have the host always distracted and conversation interrupted. What’s your advice? — NERVE-WRACKED IN NEW JERSEY
DEAR NERVE-WRACKED: Since it’s clear your advice wasn’t appreciated, the following time you might be invited to a feast at your sister’s home, be happy to say you might be busy. The one bird on the table needs to be a pleasant roasted chicken or a stuffed turkey.
DEAR ABBY: I actually have my automobile detailed at a automobile wash near the beach. Once I took my automobile there, I forgot to remove the spare change I keep for parking meters and laundry machines. Once I got my automobile back, about eight dollars in quarters and dollar coins were missing. Dimes, nickels and pennies were left behind. I emailed the owner the following day.
The owner called me, apologized and refunded the complete price of my automobile detail. I told him the refund wasn’t crucial and that I only wanted him to know what had happened. Because I used the word “steal” in my email, he took offense. I replied on the phone that the cash was gone after I got my automobile back. He said he wished me well, and I replied, “Are you saying you not need to do business with me?”
Now I feel bad. I did nothing improper and only tried to alert him to an issue together with his employees. Because the saying goes, “No good deed goes unpunished.” What do I do now, or must have I done in another way? — SUFFERING FOR TRYING TO HELP
DEAR SUFFERING: Don’t let one bad apple spoil the barrel. After all you need to have informed the owner of the business about what happened. By comping the worth of the automobile wash to your $8 loss, he did his best to make things right.
If the conversation you had with him was civil, he likely wants you to proceed doing business with him. The subsequent time you go in, make a degree of smoothing things over. In the long run, remember to remove your valuables from the automobile while you go.
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also often known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at http://www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
DEAR ABBY: My sister has a squawky bird she insists on keeping alongside the dinner table when she invites guests for dinner. Its ear-piercing screeching inhibits guests’ ability to hold on normal conversation, so I asked her if, in the long run, she could please put the bird in one other room during dinner. She responded that the bird is a member of the family. I said, “So are children, but they aren’t permitted to run across the dining table screeching when there’s company over.”
This yr, once we returned for one more dinner, she pulled the bird and its cage even closer to the table and the person sitting next to her than last time. She apparently decided the comfort of her guests shouldn’t be as necessary as her closeness to the bird.
I don’t know methods to address this in the long run when she disregards my feedback. Apart from the squawking, it’s not appealing to have a birdcage pulled up alongside a dinner table, or to have the host always distracted and conversation interrupted. What’s your advice? — NERVE-WRACKED IN NEW JERSEY
DEAR NERVE-WRACKED: Since it’s clear your advice wasn’t appreciated, the following time you might be invited to a feast at your sister’s home, be happy to say you might be busy. The one bird on the table needs to be a pleasant roasted chicken or a stuffed turkey.
DEAR ABBY: I actually have my automobile detailed at a automobile wash near the beach. Once I took my automobile there, I forgot to remove the spare change I keep for parking meters and laundry machines. Once I got my automobile back, about eight dollars in quarters and dollar coins were missing. Dimes, nickels and pennies were left behind. I emailed the owner the following day.
The owner called me, apologized and refunded the complete price of my automobile detail. I told him the refund wasn’t crucial and that I only wanted him to know what had happened. Because I used the word “steal” in my email, he took offense. I replied on the phone that the cash was gone after I got my automobile back. He said he wished me well, and I replied, “Are you saying you not need to do business with me?”
Now I feel bad. I did nothing improper and only tried to alert him to an issue together with his employees. Because the saying goes, “No good deed goes unpunished.” What do I do now, or must have I done in another way? — SUFFERING FOR TRYING TO HELP
DEAR SUFFERING: Don’t let one bad apple spoil the barrel. After all you need to have informed the owner of the business about what happened. By comping the worth of the automobile wash to your $8 loss, he did his best to make things right.
If the conversation you had with him was civil, he likely wants you to proceed doing business with him. The subsequent time you go in, make a degree of smoothing things over. In the long run, remember to remove your valuables from the automobile while you go.
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also often known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at http://www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
