Author: The Elderly Aunt
Page 2/5
The Elderly Aunt
Hey Elderly Aunt, how should I handle all these political solicitations?
Elderly Aunt: I have taken to responding to phone solicitations from candidates and groups of both parties that I “no longer make financial decisions on the fly on the phone.” … A solicitor today interrupted bill-paying and kept me on the line for a LONG time, arguing with me (and I agreed with his politics, too!) What do you think, Elderly Aunt?
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Hey Elderly Aunt, our daughter wants to protest climate change. Should we let her skip school to do it?
Dear Elderly Aunt, Our 6th grader and 3rd grader have become increasingly interested in the environment and trying to stop climate change. They’ve been especially inspired by Greta Thunberg. Now our 6th grade daughter has suggested skipping school to protest climate change like Greta did. We’ve tried to steer her toward other actions, like writing letters and making posters. What kind of strategies would you suggest that would be effective ways for young students like her to send a message … without missing school to do it? — Proud Parents
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Elderly Aunt, what do I do about my mom who’s becoming openly racist?
Elderly Aunt, please help. How does one deal with the heartache of their own mother, who lives nearby, and with whom they have a close relationship, switching from being mostly silently racist, to becoming vocally racist? I feel more heartbroken than when I lost a loved one to dementia.
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So … what’s the point of New Year’s resolutions?
Hey Elderly Aunt, what’s the point of New Year’s resolutions? I set them every year. By February (sometimes earlier) most, if not all, are broken. Are we just fooling ourselves with this “tradition”?
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Hey Elderly Aunt, how can I get people to call me by my name?
I have always gone by my full name, Jennifer. It’s what family members call me. It’s what my friends call me. It’s what my coworkers in my department call me. But for some reason coworkers in another department that I frequently work with have begun referring to me as “Jen” in emails and sometimes in person …
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Hey Elderly Aunt, Is it time for a gift-giving truce?
Hey Elderly Aunt: What kind of gift do you get for a family member who has everything and doesn’t need any more stuff? Is it appropriate to just call for a gift-giving truce and not exchange things?
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Elderly Aunt: How to solve a problem with neighbors? Peanuts.
We’ve lived in our house for about two years, but we only know our neighbors who live next to us on the right. We don’t even know the names of our neighbors on the other side of us, although we wave to each other. It’s friendly but awkward. It seems that it’s long past the time when we should have introduced ourselves. What advice do you have for ways we can break the ice with our nearby neighbors even though we let that ice thicken over the last two years?
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Hey Elderly Aunt, I’m tired of politics, so should I send a message by not voting?
Hey Elderly Aunt, I’m so tired of politics on all levels. I read your response to a reader about how to find news we can trust. It was fine advice, but I’m not sure why it matters anymore. Politicians are going to lie, so what’s the point of spending so much energy on them? And I know I’m not alone, based on conversations with my friends. Wouldn’t it send a clearer message about our collective frustration if we all chose not to vote?
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