Dear S.Q. My doctor says my stress levels are too high and I need to change my lifestyle. Where do I start other than get more exercise?
Dear Stressed, Have your MD create a personal action plan for you. Do your homework -the internet has a plethora of ideas. Take the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale (on-line) for a baseline of your stressors from the prior year to assess your risk for the near future. (Ex: death of spouse = 100 points; divorce = 73. 300+ points = high risk of 🡻 health). -SQ
Dear Suze, I loved Louis Theroux’s Netflix, “Inside the Manosphere” documentary beginning with a 20-nothing-year-old “influencer,” who got fame from his work-out programs, and private-view sex acts. His shock-and-awe height of disgust was when he said his mom would be upset, BUT if he had a gay son, he’d disown him. Several other young, putrid, rich male assholes hyped the “manosphere” (ultra-masculine world dominance) surrounded by worshipping, less-intelligent-than-them, beautiful-yet-childlike, submissive women selling-their-soul for the limelight. I love men, but not this breed.
Dear Disgusted. I urge others to watch this well-balanced, honest documentary and hope society self-corrects. All the men interviewed had a massively unstable childhood that shapes one’s personality. As men, they have an amazing lack of humanity and superficial bond to return to caveman thinking of old. Beware of poisonous ☠️ men displaying the triangle hand signal, called the “matrix.” -SQ
Dear Suze Q. My gay friend recently met my husband and asked him, behind my back, if he’d be interested in getting together without me. When my husband turned him down flat, my “friend” suggested they keep the conversation from me.
Dear Excluded, The issue isn’t gay or straight but that your “friend” isn’t one. A friend would have asked if YOU were interested in loaning him your husband, or a 3-way, rather than come-on to your husband secretly. You've been betrayed so swipe left, no explanation needed. Don’t bother to let them apologize; their actions said it all. -SQ
Dear Suze, I date a variety of women, but none make me want to keep them.
Dear Dater, Is it them that aren’t keepers, or is it you? Are you looking for conquests, or compliments, or a trophy on your mantle? If you’re not comfortable being alone, no one can fill you up. Love yourself, then see the world through the eyes of a happy person, and date as a giver not a taker. -SQ
Dear S.Q. I've lived with a zaney, vivacious woman for 5 years, since my daughter was 9. I only have my kid every other weekend and we take summer trips together, when my gf visits her relatives alone. It's gotten harder since my daughter has activities on weekends that I love to do, but my gf refuses. We argue about it. I want to act like a family but my gf wants no part of "childcare."
Dear Dad, Does it feel like an ultimatum by your partner to choose between her or your daughter? If you've got your head on straight that you can't have both, then there's only one that deserves your love. You'll never have another daughter like this one, but jealous, self-centered, controlling women are everywhere. Did you waste 5 years of your life and your daughter's unnecessarily? Make better choices in the future. -SQ
Dear Suze Q. I keep getting pop-up ads that start with AITA, then continue with some inane, sometimes funny, always odd, usually not worth a serious person’s time story. I hit delete but they keep coming back. What’s the deal?
Dear Serious, If you’re a soap-opera fan, this minutia is for you. Created in 2013, potential assholes post a supposed real life dilemma and ask the forum to judge if “Am I The Asshole?” Since hundreds of scenarios a day are posted by different people, when you block one, you’ve not blocking all. Though many posts are fake, the others show real morality daily struggles of complex interpersonal dynamics. And, naturally, it’s a fun place to kill time. -SQ
