Dear Amy: I met a man on the Internet a year ago. We have been exchanging e-mails three times a week. He doesn’t like to talk on the phone. He has told me time and time again that he loves me and wants to marry me.
We have only met five times because we live in different states. It bothers me that all these times we have met I always pay for my airfare and hotel room.
He has never introduced me to his parents or any member of his family.
I have asked him to come to visit me, so that I can introduce him to my parents and other members of my family, but every time he seems to have an urgent issue that needs to be attended to.
He has borrowed $6,000 from me, which he promised to repay, but so far he has not.
Whenever I ask him about the money and what he thinks about us, he replies, “I love you.” I love him so much, but I have a feeling that he does not love me.
What should I do?
– Worried in Boston
Dear Worried: This man has taken your trust and your money. Don’t let him take anything more.
Every single thing about this guy screams “fraud.” It doesn’t sound as if you checked him out at all before agreeing to meet him, but before meeting a person who in reality is a complete stranger, you should verify every single thing that he tells you.
Would you meet with a stranger in a hotel room just because he asked you? Would you open your wallet and give a stranger a substantial sum of money just because he said that he loved you? Apparently you would – because that is exactly what you have done.
This guy doesn’t love you. If he did, he would come to see you; he would introduce you to his family and want to meet yours; and he wouldn’t take money from you and never pay it back.
You should contact the police in the area where he lives and tell them your story. Provide them with relevant copies of the e-mails he has sent to you. If he has done this to you, then he has most likely done this to other women.
…
Dear Amy: I think I have a better solution for “Mark,” who placed fake poison for invisible ants in his yard to discourage neighbors from bringing their dogs there.
My husband and I had a neighbor who kept allowing his dog to poop on our lawn – even after being asked to keep him off. One day while the neighbor was at work and just before mowing our lawn, my husband shoveled up all the poop on the lawn and placed it on this neighbor’s driveway. Problem solved.
– Somewhere in N.C.
Dear Somewhere: One group of readers feels that “poop placement” is the answer to this tricky issue.
Problem solved.
Way to go.
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