DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: This will be my 18th year working at what’s become one of the last department stores in town. I have been in retail since I was a kid and I can say things have gotten so much worse in recent years and not just because of COVID.

One of the biggest problems is that there are not enough people coming to work in the retail field. Our store used to anchor a successful mall, which shut down a while back and is now under redevelopment as a medical office complex.

All the people who used to work in those long gone stores have moved on and people don’t shop the way they used to. So not only are there fewer people working at my store, but management has been given strict hiring caps. That means another holiday shopping season of working 50 or more hours a week, which gets harder and harder on me and my family.

I have also found customers are getting less patient and more rude, and not just the younger people.

While there are those who just show up and can’t wait to clock out, a lot of us who are still willing to work retail work hard and honestly want to do the best we can for our customers.

Could you please remind readers that a little bit of patience and politeness go a long way, especially when dealing with people honestly trying to do their best for them? --- DOING THE BEST WE CAN

DEAR DOING THE BEST WE CAN: As someone who once-upon-a-time worked in retail, enjoys shopping in person, and hopes malls and department stores won’t become obsolete, I’m more than glad to pass along your request for good behavior and patience on the part of customers.

It’s easy to be aggravated by having to wait in line or to hunt down available salespeople, but it’s also fairly obvious that the problems stem from, as you noted, a lack of people working in the stores, and that’s certainly not the fault of the staff members, who like you, are doing their best under difficult circumstances.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: We are finishing our first year in our new house. We moved in a few weeks before we got married the week after Thanksgiving last year. So this will be our first married Thanksgiving and the first one our home is ready to host.

We asked both sets of parents to spend Thanksgiving with us. My in-laws said they will come for a couple days, but my parents said they wanted to spend Thanksgiving with my sister’s family. They have two kids, and it seems they get priority over us whenever both my sister and I ask my parents to come to our houses for a special occasion or for a visit. It happens every time.

I don’t want to come off as jealous because I love my sister and her family. I spoil my nephew and niece every chance I get. They were also invited to come to our house for Thanksgiving, but my sister says my brother-in-law is working the whole long weekend except for on the holiday itself, so they can’t make it.

We were going to make this not only a super special Thanksgiving, but also celebrate our first anniversary. Now it will be Thanksgiving Day with just my in-laws, and my husband and me for our anniversary.

I’m disappointed and hope we make everything work here at our house next year.

Do you think it’s too early to put in dibs on having the families all here next year, especially since I just found out we’re pregnant and next Thanksgiving would be our baby’s first one? --- WANT TO CELEBRATE HERE

DEAR WANT TO CELEBRATE HERE: I see nothing wrong with your putting in an early claim to host Thanksgiving at your place next year. That gives everyone fair warning, which hopefully will work to your advantage.

However, remember asking isn’t always getting. Circumstances can result in a change of plans anywhere between now and next November, so it may be a game of playing it by ear until then.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: When I came home for my Dad’s birthday I had to use the guest room because my Dad moved into my old room. He and my Mom said it was because his new CPAP machine was noisier than the old one. It was keeping my Mom awake, they said. When I heard it running it didn’t sound any different than the old one to me.

I want to believe that the new CPAP is the only reason my parents have gone to separate bedrooms. My girlfriend said it would be rude to ask them about it, but since it is my parents, don’t I have a right to know if there is something else going on between them? --- MAY BE MORE THAN NOISE

DEAR MAY BE MORE THAN NOISE: I agree with your girlfriend’s advice to you to refrain from asking your parents about their relationship.

Unless you have any reason to believe something has changed for your parents beyond your father’s CPAP machine, I don’t see why you shouldn’t accept their explanation for sleeping in separate rooms.

And even if you did observe something different in how your parents act towards each other, it’s their prerogative whether or not to share details of their relationship with anyone outside of it ‒ including concerned offspring.