Heavenly al fresco nights in the buff call for privacy

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/08/2020 (2235 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts:  I’ve been sleeping out nude on my balcony these hot summer nights, and the breezes have been heavenly.

I generally start off with a nightie but end up pulling it off after it gets really dark out. Then it’s just me and the moon.

At dawn I get chilly, and pull a light blanket over me. It has been pure heaven at all times. But, this morning it may have ended.

I received a scribbled note under my door telling me I should “cover up” as I can be seen by people across at the next building, when they look down. I don’t know if I should be touched by someone’s protectiveness or annoyed that they’d be watching and let me know.

They’d need binoculars to get a really good look. What a thought — under their microscope like a bug! — Nervous Sleeping Beauty, East Kildonan

Dear Sleeping Beauty: It’s not unusual for people to sleep on their apartment balconies on beautiful summer nights. The smart ones have a light screen (often bamboo) they can pull around them to create some privacy.

As for the note under your door, that missive most likely comes from a protective person, so don’t be annoyed. Perhaps it’s their sincere concern for you, or their mate is doing the peeking and they want to stop it. But it could be a leering neighbour doing it, having a big yuck and wanting you to know they saw you. Whatever the circumstance, it’s time for a screen.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: My old boyfriend is back here in Winnipeg working for the summer, and now, in mid-August, he thought it was time to look the old girlfriend up! He must have run out of new online ladies who’d go for his worn-out lines. He was always big on having a chicken coop full of online “lady friends” while he was seeing me.

He said it didn’t count if the relationships were just kept online and claimed they were “not real.” I kind of swallowed it because I hadn’t tried it.

After we broke up last winter, I got online myself and found people were very real, did have feelings and carried on relationships. It was just a way to introduce yourselves and start dating.

They were not figments of the imagination although, of course, there were a few fakes. Speaking of fakes, I saw my ex on Tinder soon after we broke up, and I sat there for 10 minutes thinking, “This sneaky jerk was the guy I trusted online with ‘unreal’ people?”

He even described himself as “kind, caring and honest” in his latest pitch. Oh puh-leaze.

Should I phone him and say I saw his “honesty” line and laughed myself sick, or should I just ignore his attempt to re-connect? — So Disgusted! St. Boniface

Dear Disgusted: Give him nothing back, or he will have the gratifying feeling you’ve been watching him, you poor broken-hearted thing.

He’ll be thinking you’re still interested in the guy who played you, and wondering if you should call him. Ha! Don’t do it.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: I want to break up with my girlfriend but I’m afraid I will have no one else.

I could make do if COVID-19 was only going to last six months but it looks like we’re on the start of a second wave. I don’t think I can stand her for another six months.

Actually, I feel like I’m dating two women. She and her young mother are thick as thieves and her mother knows me down to my last chest hair because my foolish girlfriend tells her every detail now that she has no work and nothing better to occupy her tiny little mind. — Break Up or Not? Steinbach

Dear Break Up: There’s no reason to stay with this immature girl. You’re fed up with her generally and feel disgusted by her and her mama who discuss every little thing about you.

While this may not be a good time to jump into heavy dating, you can make a very slow start getting to know somebody and become friends first. If you trust each other’s bubbles, and want to be together, it can still happen.

It’s not like meeting new people has come to a complete halt. You just have to be very, very cautious!

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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