Dear Annie 8/1 - Sat, 01 Aug 2020 PST

Dear Annie: I love my wife very much and try to be a good husband. However, my wife has an explosive temper. Whenever she is mad at me, she punishes me by not speaking to me. This time, she has not spoken to me for almost a week. On the other hand, she can talk to her friends on the phone for hours. What should I do? I am exasperated. – Out of Ideas

Dear Out of Ideas: The silent treatment is bad medicine. It leaves wounds to fester when they could heal. Implore your wife to seek marriage counseling with you as soon as you’re able. It is imperative for the health of your marriage.

Dear Annie: Your answer to “Confused” was good as far as it went, but I think you are missing another very important issue here. This guy’s behavior on the job is legally wrong. He is lucky he hasn’t gotten into serious trouble before now. Especially, for being a 50-year-old man hitting on a 20-something woman. If he keeps that up, I would be very surprised if someone didn’t lodge a complaint to human resources against him. If someone hasn’t explained to him by now that his behavior borders on sexual harassment, then they should have. If no one else clues him in, then his wife definitely should. It is downright creepy that a guy in his 50s is hitting on someone young enough to be his daughter. I wish there had been a movement against that kind of behavior when I was that age. – Suzie

Dear Suzie: True: I only considered it from the wife’s perspective. You’ve raised another troubling aspect of the situation. These young women may well be as uncomfortable about the texts as is his wife. And though it’s not anyone else’s responsibility to teach him basic decency, perhaps your letter will inform him – and others – of the effect of his behavior. Let’s hope he shows more respect to everyone involved.

Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com.