Social Q’s

A reader seeks advice on how to contend with the possibility of a future encounter with her ex after an explosive and painful breakup.

By Philip Galanes

A reader is struggling to forgive a fabricated excuse that involves a terminal cancer patient’s turn for the worse.

By Philip Galanes

A reader smells hypocrisy in his co-workers’ proclamations of mourning and wants no part of it. Is he obligated to attend her funeral if his heart isn’t in it?

By Philip Galanes

A 20-something woman who lives with her parents has incurred their disappointment by continuing an affair with her former boss. Since she won’t end things, should they tell the man’s wife?

By Philip Galanes

Tired of being saddled with “dud” husbands when their more exciting wives bow out of plans, a reader wonders if there’s a way to delicately insist that both members of a couple attend.

By Philip Galanes

After five years of sharing birthdays with her nephew, a reader is bristling at her sister’s decision to create a perennial scheduling conflict just for fun.

By Philip Galanes

A reader is eager to patch things over with her best friend and her boyfriend after they had a tryst behind her back. But should she be?

By Philip Galanes

A reader is miffed to learn that $13,000 was earmarked in her grandmother’s will for a younger sister’s fertility treatments. Should the sister reimburse her siblings?

By Philip Galanes

A reader worries that her 29-year-old son is stringing along his girlfriend of nearly three years: She wants marriage and children, but he’s not sure she’s “the one.”

By Philip Galanes

Unable to treat her parents as often as she would like, a reader is unsure how to encourage them to take a big step toward financial self-reliance.

By Philip Galanes