Barkers and Biters

Dear Short Answers: I have a friend whose heart is in the right place but only I seem to know it.  He comes across as angry and argumentative with everyone — from waitresses to close friends.  Should I tell him to knock it off? Sick of It Dear Sick: We know folks like that.  It [...]

Get Ready!

Dear Short Answers: Where is spring? So Cold Dear Cold: We have heard that it is going to come on like gangbusters! Like Unlike

Department of the Obvious

Dear Short Answers: What’s the main culture in France? Puzzled Dear Puzzled: Well, we think the main culture is FRENCH. Like Unlike

Multiple Choice

Dear Short Answers: Appropriate response or action is needed to handle a 50-year old brother-in-law who deliberately and graphically burps and passes gas in front of others while at family dinners. He’s the only one finding this amusing and nobody wants to eat around him, including children. I’m sure this jerk can’t be reasoned with, [...]

Make It Stop!

Dear Short Answers: Since airlines have stopped serving meals more people seem to be boarding with steaming, smelly cartons of airport junk food. I actually saw a woman spill hot coffee on a seated passenger as she struggled with her carry on and what appeared to be a 5-course meal. HELP Weary Road Warrior Dear [...]

Epidemic

Dear Short Answers: What do you do if the passenger next to you on a plane clearly has the flu? Afraid Dear Afraid: Just been there. Pull your turtleneck over your mouth and nose, lean the other way, and hope the flight attendant will see what you see and  move one of you.  If that [...]

Since You Asked

Dear Short Answers: What was healthcare like for African Americans during the Great Migration? Inquiring Mind Dear Inquiring: This is out of our area of “expertise” but we know a book called “The Warmth of Other Suns” — a non-fiction book about the Great Migration.  It is by historian Isabel Wilkerson and she suggests that [...]

An Easy One

Dear Short Answers: Is it always a good idea to say what’s on your mind? Jack Dear Jack: No. Like Unlike

A Question of Judgment

Dear Short Answers: Do you honor every question you receive with a response? Or do you dismiss trash as such? Sincerely, Questions Galore Dear QG: We answer all questions that meet our admittedly idiosyncratic standards. Like Unlike

Lost and Found

Dear Short Answers: Did Gary get lost? RG Dear RG: Not that we know of … have you found him? Like Unlike

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