Dear Amy: During the past six months, I have received several solicitations for monetary donations from the principal of my child’s school.
These donations will help fund the principal’s support of a not-for-profit cause unrelated to the school. I personally support the cause, but I find it offensive to be solicited by my child’s principal. Am I out of touch, or have professional lines been crossed?
– A Concerned Parent
Dear Parent: The principal of your child’s school should not be contacting families in the community to solicit money.
You should contact the principal, tell him that this makes you uncomfortable and say that although you also support this cause, you do so privately.
If you continue to receive solicitations, or if anything about the principal’s response is unsatisfactory, you should consider contacting the school board to inquire if there is a policy against this type of solicitation.
…
Dear Amy: My husband has been “speaking” with an ex-girlfriend, who claims that she just wants to be friends.
I am seeking a simple answer to a simple question: “Should I be upset?” My husband always reads your column, so I thought it would be interesting to poll your readers and provide your advice.
– Hurt in Md.
Dear Hurt: When your husband’s ex comes over for dinner, then you’ll all be able to “speak” with and be friends with her.
My instinct about this sort of thing is that spouses need to respect each other’s need for individual friendships while being completely transparent about these relationships.
If your husband is willing to invite his ex to your home and leave the door open for the whole family to get to know her and enjoy her company, then you shouldn’t be upset.
If he isn’t willing to put you on the phone with her to make arrangements for a get-together, then yes, by all means get upset.
…
Dear Amy: I would like an opportunity to respond to the ridiculous and altogether uninformed and prejudiced remarks of “MF,” the older gentleman complaining about “the worst, most selfish and dumbest young people” in the history of the United States.
I am 18, which I suppose categorizes me as one of the “coddled” generation.
Let me just say, I will be attending a highly competitive college this September, and I plan to continue my education through grad school, as will many of my friends.
We have not been idly sitting around these past few years. We are busying ourselves to take over and to clean up the mess that will be handed down to us from the so-called “Greatest Generation.” We win national awards, make discoveries, volunteer in our communities, compose, perform and invent, and we take pride in what we do.
I believe that the negative attitude adopted by “MF” was developed not from studying adolescents as a whole but from studying the adolescents in his immediate company.
If the old proverb about the apple and the tree is true, perhaps this is why he finds himself stuck with a poor sampling of American youth.
– Hannah in N.Y.
Dear Hannah: Ouch! You’re tough too. I responded to “MF” noting the attributes of your generation, but you have done so much more eloquently.
However, I must correct you on one thing. You did not inherit this mess directly from the “Greatest Generation.” My generation, the baby boomers, hasn’t done the best job of securing this planet for your future. You have your work cut out for you, and for all of our sakes, I hope that you prevail where we have failed.
Send questions via e-mail to askamy@tribune.com or by mail to Ask Amy, Chicago Tribune, TT500, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611.
