DEAR ABBY: I have been friends with “Martha” for 40 years. We live a few hundred miles apart, so I like to call her and chat. The problem is, her husband always answers the phone, and he likes to give me a hard time.
When I identify myself and ask to speak to Martha, he says he doesn’t know anyone by my name, or says there’s no Martha living there. Once he told Martha to ask me how my ex-husband was. I have not seen my ex for 40 years, since our divorce.
The last time it happened, I told Martha her husband was annoying and that she should call me from now on. She said he was just trying to be funny. I haven’t heard from her since, not even a birthday card. Was I wrong to speak up? Should I apologize or just lose this friendship? – Problem Husband in Florida
DEAR PROBLEM: Martha’s husband doesn’t strike me as being particularly witty. After a few repeat performances of his lame material, I can understand how someone would become annoyed. I don’t think you owe Martha an apology for being honest about how you felt. Because you left the ball in her court, it’s possible that because you did all the work staying in touch, your friendship was not as close as you assumed or you would have heard from her.
DEAR ABBY: A friend and I belong to a book club and have regularly gone to lunch and a movie afterward. We have occasionally mentioned a movie we liked while chatting before the start of the book club meeting. This prompted other people to invite themselves along or ask if they can go with us.
If we wanted to spend more time with these women, we would have invited them. The two of us feel that this afternoon outing is our time together and we would prefer it being just us. We changed the day, which was a bit inconvenient but preferable to the alternative. How do we handle it when future inquiries come up without hurting feelings or sounding snobbish? – Our Time Together
DEAR OUR TIME: Your mistake was in talking about your movie dates in front of the other women. In the future, handle it by refraining from doing that, and your problem will go away.
Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
