Mistaken identity case has dragged on too long


DEAR ABBY: I have an acquaintance who calls me by the wrong first name, and I dont know how to correct him without embarrassing both of us. We both grew up in the same town, although we didnt know each other back then. He became a doctor and moved to northern California. Our mothers know each other, but his mother is now in a nursing home and cant communicate.

When I first looked him up, I introduced myself. Since then, he has been calling me George. (My name is Jim.) Most of the time I see him at the weight room at the health club, and he greets me with a big, Hello, George! I thought about correcting him, but he cant hear me because he has earphones on.

Sometimes well cross paths in the locker room and hell say, Hows it going, George? and keeps on walking. I dont think it would be cool to open his shower door and correct him. How can I solve this embarrassing problem?


DEAR JIM: Your mistake was in not correcting him immediately. Unless being called by the wrong name is george with you, open the shower door and correct the man. I guarantee that if you do it once, he wont get your name wrong again.

DEAR ABBY: A guy in our office forwards corny e-mails to me and others. But as soon as he sends them, he enters our offices and asks if we read the e-mail he just forwarded. If we say no, he says, Well, go ahead and open it. Then he hovers over our shoulders until its opened and read. If we are in the hallway or a conference room after he e-mails it, he comes to find us. Then he follows us back into our offices and watches while we read it. Sometimes he will even read it aloud, as if we cant read.

In the rare cases that the e-mail might actually be funny, his interruption and hovering ruins any enjoyment the e-mail might otherwise provide. All I can do is offer an insincere snicker, while I feel uncomfortable about the content and his hovering.

How can we get him to cut it out?


DEAR TRAPPED: You have described someone who is socially inept and hungry for company. Its sad, really. But the most logical way to deal with it is to be too busy to be interrupted. Be pleasant, but firm, and tell him that youll look at what he sent when time permits. And dont take no for an answer.

DEAR ABBY: I was engaged three years ago, and shortly before the wedding my fiance called it off. My bridesmaids had all purchased their dresses.

I plan to be married this year and will use the same bridesmaid dresses. However, I am no longer as close to a couple of the bridesmaids as I was then. Since they have already purchased the dresses, am I obligated to ask them to be in this wedding? What would be proper?


DEAR MAKING PLANS: The proper thing to do would be to ask the women who bought the dresses to be in the wedding, or offer to buy the dresses from them, and select bridesmaids who wear their size. (Hint: Youll make fewer enemies if you use the original cast.)

DEAR ABBY: My family lives in a three-bedroom house, and my parents share the largest bedroom. I am 15, my sister is 11 and my brother is 7. The two other bedrooms are the same size. Should I share a bedroom with my brother, or should my sister share one with him?


DEAR STEVEN: Because two of you must double up, you should share a bedroom with your brother.

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