Friend with seizures shouldn’t be driving
DEAR ABBY: I’m acquainted with a woman who has been experiencing seizures for several years and, because of the seizures, has been restricted from driving. She drove her son to school a couple of years ago and ran into a brick mailbox, totaling her car.
She now wants to be able to drive and has said she will not tell her doctor about recent seizures. Isn’t this potentially dangerous?
RESTRICTED DRIVING IN KENTUCKY
DEAR RESTRICTED DRIVING: Of course it’s dangerous! It is also irresponsible and indefensible.
Periodically, we hear in the media about tragedies that happened because someone had a seizure and drove into a restaurant, a shop window, etc. For someone with an illness that could endanger the lives of passengers, pedestrians and other innocent people to get behind the wheel of a vehicle is selfish and unconscionable.
Encourage her to talk to her doctor about adjusting or changing her medication. And remind her that if she were to cause an accident, and it was discovered that she was driving in spite of being restricted, that she could not only kill people, she could also be prosecuted criminally and civilly.
DEAR ABBY: Whenever I give my longtime friend a gift, her reaction is to tell me, “Oh, no.” Then she offers to give me money for the gift.
When I give someone a gift, it is because I like them and am excited to give them something I think they would like. When she tells me I shouldn’t have done it and keeps asking how much money she owes me, I feel very hurt.
Now her daughter, whom I consider like my family, has learned it from her mom and does the same thing when I give her a gift. Abby, why do they react that way? GIFT GIVER IN TEXAS
DEAR GIFT GIVER: I suspect your friend learned this behavior the way her daughter has — from her mother. You might ask your friend to explain why she does this when you give her a gift, because her reaction is peculiar. (Could it be she feels unworthy?) Because you know that receiving gifts makes her uncomfortable, my advice is to quit giving her things.
DEAR ABBY: I am tattooed. I started getting inked when I was 22. I am now 31.
Recently, I decided to get an extensive design on my left arm. It will take four sessions to complete. The first session is scheduled on a Tuesday, not normally my day off. I can use PTO hours to cover it, but what do I say when
and if management notices my ink, puts two and two together, and realizes I took time off for this? INKED IN INDIANA
DEAR INKED: Tell the truth — that you took PTO for a personal errand. That’s what personal/paid time off is for.