Enlist help to fend off old creeper

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This article was published 17/01/2020 (2414 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts:  I met an old goat at a New Year’s Eve party who has started phoning me late at night. I don’t want his company as he is a good 30 years older than I am — older than my dad.

I wonder if I should tell my father about him. I’m still living at home and want this guy off my back as he’s starting to hint at rude things.  — Not Interested in Antiques, River Heights

Dear Not Interested: By all means, let your dad know! In fact, put him right on the phone the next time to talk to this “old goat” and warn him to stay completely away from his daughter. That includes contact by phone and via social media.

The older man will be shocked to get a guy of his own age telling him to get away from his daughter! 

You won’t get any more calls. He just wants easy prey, who will go along with him and hide it all from her parents.

Talk with your dad about advising the police as well. You may not be this old guy’s first young target.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts:  I’m back at school now and I feel lost, quite desolate. I woke up to the fact at Christmas that I hate my course of study at university, I am lonely as heck, can’t stop crying, and I want to quit and go home to my town for the rest of the year.

I lied to my parents when I went home at Christmas and said I was doing fine at school. They are going to be so disappointed in me. Please help. — Big Failure, Downtown  

Dear “Big Failure:” I am a parent, so please listen. A parent worries about their late-teen “kids” when they leave home. They love you more than you can even imagine.

So, write, phone or go home for the weekend, and spill the truth about your university experience. Tell them clearly what you want to do — take a break and change directions.

Make it clear you don’t want to “stick this out” because you feel you’re on the wrong road, entirely. Tell them you will get a job locally and pay them some of the money they might lose this term.

They will probably say, “Forget that, dear. Just come home and we’ll figure it out.”

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: Thank you for your thoughtful reply to the picky hostess who wanted to dictate what types of gifts guests brought to her dinner. I agree if you ask guests to bring appetizers or courses, you are really hosting a potluck. Guests should be told that up front.

I had a friend who proudly hosted frequent “dinner” parties. He’d wait until last minute before contacting guests (usually in a group email or Facebook post), telling us what we were to bring.

Worse, his parties ran so late that several times we left before getting to the dish we brought (or half of the other courses).

We put up with this only a few times before declining invitations. Strangely, his parties dried up fairly quickly.

It’s important to be a good host as well as a good guest.  —Happy Potlucker, Winnipeg

Dear Potlucker: There’s etiquette involved in casual potlucks. They are not the same as dinners thrown by a host who often pays for everything.

On top of your suggestions, potluck hosts should always tell guests to feel free to take home what’s left of their dish. On top of enjoying it at home, the guest doesn’t need to come back for the container. 

A few people look at a potluck as a good way to get a lot of delicious food left behind to keep afterwards for themselves. That doesn’t go over very well, once people figure it out.

Please send your questions and comments to lovecoach@hotmail.com or Miss Lonelyhearts c/o the Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R2X 3B6.

Miss Lonelyhearts
Advice Columnist

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