Advice Illustrated

Letter 1 is from a 50yo wife of a brain-damaged husband. She doesn't want to leave him, because the burden would just be on her children. But she misses sex, etc. Can she take a lover? Of course. But be discreet. Prudie agrees, in a more enlightening fashion.

Video letter is from Mercedes Benz, and then about a girl whose mom made them stay at mom's bro's place in NYC during a visit, despite the fact that the place stank of cat. She left for a hotel, infuriating everyone at her “rudeness”. If she's old enough to pay for her own hotel, then she's old enough to choose to go to the hotel. As Prudie says: is her entire family crazy? (But just where did she think they were doing to stay? This is weird.)

Letter 2 is so bad it must be quoted in extenso:

“My husband and I are happily married with two children. Over the years, my husband's sister and her husband have struggled with infertility. They finally asked if I would act as a surrogate. My husband and I did not take this lightly, but we decided to help them. Last year I gave birth to a lovely daughter. I lost the weight easily after my first two pregnancies but have been struggling after this one and am embarrassed about my slow progress. My sister-in-law has started making insensitive remarks about my body that would be rude in any circumstances but cut more deeply given that I gained this weight while pregnant with her daughter. At Thanksgiving, she said I’d need to work out extra hard to make up for what was on my plate. At a family birthday, she suggested I get only a small slice of cake. What, if anything, should I say to my sister-in-law when she makes these hurtful remarks? If she asked me to be a surrogate again, I’d refuse because of her attitude. But would that be selfish?”

The question asked is: “would that be selfish?”. The answer is: “no”. The follow-up is: “did you really want an answer to that particularly dumb question, or did you want to bitch about your SIL?”

She's a bitch. Here's what you say the next time she makes a comment: “It's true I got fat bearing your child. It's a pity God hates you so much he made you a barren sterile hag” or “a dried-up crone with a uterus full of twigs”, if you'd rather.

Letter 3 is from the head of a small family-style (hah!) departement in a big firm. His latest hire is destroying the cozy atmosphere of the place, but “a friend in HR” says he can't fire the guy since he hasn't done anything wrong. Prudie says to get real action from HR. If he's an at-will employee, as is very likely (since those labor unions are so eeeviiiill), he can be dumped. I say that he is overestimating the lovely atmosphere before (“like a family” makes my skin crawl), but that yes, he should get rid of the guy.

Letter 4 is from an uptight woman who is going on a family vacation with her husband and son and inlaws. She wants each family to cook separately so that her child doesn't eat hot dogs and hamburgers. Prudie says to get off her nutritional soapbox. I agree.