Dear Abby: My new boyfriend, “Paul,” and I seem to discover good qualities in each other every time we get together.
I think he’s wonderful. Recently, though, he said he has noticed something about me that he considers rude. At the mall, I have always been irritated by kiosk salespeople who practically block your way to sample their product. I ignore these pushy merchants because they usually won’t take no for an answer, even if I attempt to say, “No, thank you.”
Paul thinks I’m being impolite, so he’s the one who ends up being detained, trying to be kind, while I wait for him to finish apologizing for not wanting their product.
I don’t feel my way of handling this is rude. I have told Paul he doesn’t have to please everyone, act interested or waste his time at the kiosk. Who do you think is right? — Not Rude
Dear Not Rude: I agree with your boyfriend that to ignore someone is rude. However, rather than ignore these salespeople, a firm “Not interested” should be sufficient. And if the person persists, keep walking.
Dear Abby: Please help my husband and me settle an argument. He hates when I step out of the shower onto the bath mat to dry off, leaving it wet. I think that’s what the bath mat is for. Who’s right?— Lisa
Dear Lisa: You are. The alternative would be to step out of the shower onto a tile floor — which could cause a slip and fall, or onto carpet, which would become moldy. After you have finished drying off, however, the bath mat should be hung up to dry.
Write Dear Abby at or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
