Thursday, October 7, 2010

Advice Illustrated, 7 October 2010 "Boys will be hairy and girls will be self-righteous or drunk"

The originals are HERE.


Letter 1 is from a woman whose husband has developed a close friendship with a coworker. She feels left out, and thinks her husband might be in lurve with the guy. Prudie goes all Brokeback Mountain on the LW and urges her to find out if the cowboys are doing it.
I say: women tend to use any reason to accuse their partners of being gay. It's an effective controlling technique, for sure. If something physical is going on, LW does need to know, but the real problem is her impression that she's being left out of her husband's emotional life. When she complains about it, she needs to find a better way to answer her husband's reply. Like, "No, I don't want to break up your friendship, but I want us to talk about why you prefer to share your emotional life with him than with me." Guys do say "I love you, bro", and almost all of them aren't messing around.

The video letter is from a woman who broke off her friendship with a bridezilla as soon as the horrible wedding experience was over. Ten years on, friend is renewing her vows and wants LW to be her bridesmaid again. Prudie says don't.
I say: duh.

Letter 2 is from a grandmother whose young adult granddaughters took photos of their vagrant alcoholic mother (LW's daughter) at the hut she lives in under a bridge and posted them to Facebook. Prudie says it was not a good thing to do, but perhaps the granddaughters got some cathartic release from it. Now keep trying to help the granddaughters.
I say: ugh.

Letter 3 is from a yuppie who's tired of defending the fact that she actually worked hard to get a good job and can occasionally buy something she likes. Prudie says to dump the self-righteous do-gooders (with other people's money) friends.
I say: Whenever they bitch about your new car, ask them if they've done their bit for the planet by having themselves sterilised.

Letter 4 is from a woman whose husband periodically shaves his head. She hates it, but he says it's his head, so it's his decision and he likes to be intermittently bald. Prudie says to lay off him and try to enjoy the jarhead look.
I say: I have just this problem! I don't know that I've ever read a DP letter so close to a problem of my own. Add to it variations on facial hair, periodic whims to grow his hair or beard as long as possible (never very long in the end, because he succombs to the urge to clip), etc. etc. Prudie's right: it's not your head,it's not your problem, enjoy the fact that this inconsequential problem is the kind you have.

5 comments:

Aunt Messy said...

Oh Marc! A Mitsubishi? Really? They're....fuel efficient...ugly....they have no soul....and they're dangerous in a "can blow up" kinda way! Probably the guy bought a Porsche....

Seoul Sister said...

Oh dear, I hope that your wife was not letter writer #4... ;)

Great advice - quick & to the point. Me likey!

Marc Naimark said...

@Messy: I wasn't paying attention to the make and model, just to the bow. That is probably how I would react in real life: which car do you want? The one with the big beautiful bow.

Marc Naimark said...

@Seoul Sister: My BF is the one described. I am boring as can be... the only change that can be seen in my hair is that it's gone almost all gray.

Seoul Sister said...

Oops, my bad - I thought you were referring to yourself in 3rd person. But at least you seem to understand that it's his hair so it's his business. :)