Dear Auntie Linda, My wife is forty-nine. We have been happily married twenty-eight years., but recently, she has done some strange things. Three weeks ago, she hit me, while we were discussing our grocery list. She has never done anything like this before. This past Sunday, we were standing in the front yard talking to a new neighbor, when out of the blue she patted his behind and made an extremely inappropriate remark. I don’t know what she is thinking. What in the world could make her do this? Shocked
Dear Shocked, With sudden extreme, behavior changes like this, your wife needs to see her doctor. Good luck. Auntie Linda
Dear Auntie Linda, i am a senior in high school. I have worked as a checker in a grocery store for over a year to help my mother and pay my own expenses. I have a 4.0 average and won a scholarship to a good college. I buy all the markdowns I can to help Mom with the bills. Here is my problem. Several times, when I’ve seen single mothers come through, out of sympathy for their situation, I have run meat items through without scanning, without saying anything to them. I’ve never said anything to them, just slid it through. If they remarked, I acted like it was a mistake. I’ve started going to churchI feel so guilty, now. I haven’t done this in a long time because I got scared once when I thought I was caught. I know I owe about $200. Is there any way I can make this right without getting in trouble and risking my scholarship? Checker
Dear Checker, it’s admirable that you want to make things right. There are a couple of ways to handle it. If you have a good relationship with your manager, you could discuss it with them and offer restitution, but there is no way you could be sure how that would turn out. You could make restitution anonymously explaining you had stolen from the store in the past. You could seek advice from a trusted religious advisor. Think it through very carefully before you act. Auntie Linda