DEAR ABBY: I am a teacher. I have a young son, and I love being off when he is out for school holidays and spending summers together. I feel I have the best of both worlds. I recently married a woman who is 14 years younger than me and is also a teacher. My wife hates the profession. She feels it isn't exciting or respectable enough. Her opinions about teaching hurt my feelings because I believe it is a noble career, plus it gives me quality time with my son.

My wife has decided to join the police force. It didn't happen out of the blue. We have discussed it for the last five years. I have told her it isn't the life I want. I worked hard to reach a point in my life to have a family and take summer vacations with my son. I was honest with her from the beginning. She often says she wants the time with our family too, and that she won't join the police force. Then, days later, she brings it up again.

We have been married only six months, but I regret it already. I didn't get married to be alone all the time and to take vacations without my spouse. I love her, but I feel betrayed and lied to. I also don't think she'll be a good cop -- she is just obsessed with police shows and thinks it's going to be like that. She's throwing away a great career for one I think she'll leave in a year or two. I feel our biggest challenge is her lack of experience. What do I do? -- WORRIED WIFE/MOM IN FLORIDA

DEAR WIFE/MOM: Calm down. There is no guarantee that even if your wife applies she will be accepted into law enforcement in anything more than an administrative capacity. Some sessions with a licensed marriage and family therapist might help the two of you to better communicate.

You each appear to have very different ideas about what a happy marriage consists of. If a compromise can't be reached, and because your marriage has been such a short one, it might be better for the two of you to cordially part ways.

DEAR ABBY: We host dinner parties in our home with dear friends. They always bring their little dog, but never ask if it's OK with us. When they're finished eating, the husband picks the dog up onto his lap at the table. I think it's unbelievably rude to have a dog at the dinner table. Am I wrong?

My husband and I are appalled and don't know how to approach them about it without ruining our friendship. We are flabbergasted that they think this is right. What do you suggest we do? -- SHOCKED IN OHIO

DEAR SHOCKED: Your problem is having allowed this for so long without speaking up. The solution now is to either stop inviting this couple to your dinner parties, or to ask them not to bring "Fifi" with them because an uninvited dog sitting at your table bothers you and your husband. (Refrain from using the word "rude," which would come across as judgmental.) This may seem "ruff," but you have got to do it.

DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend is 18 years younger than I am. Our relationship hasn't been perfect, but I love him to death. Unfortunately, I'm going through menopause and have all the side effects. Long story short, he found another girl. It was just supposed to be for sex, and he told me he wouldn't get into another relationship or marry anyone but me. Well, he fell for her, which I warned him he was going to do.

They are both at my apartment. I'm trying to make him happy by allowing this, but he can be so mean to me, and he's so nice to her. He tells me how nice she is, etc. I told him it's because he hasn't hurt her yet. He won't have sex with me now. He claims he isn't favoring her, but he is.

I love him so much, and don't want to lose him. I'm in so much pain because I can't please him in every way. I don't know what to do. Should I allow this and try to make it work, or should I give up since it seems like he has given up on me? -- CAN'T STOP CRYING

DEAR CAN'T STOP: Let me get this straight. Your much-younger boyfriend and his new girlfriend live in your apartment (rent-free), and he no longer makes love with you. What are you getting out of this charade besides pain?

If I thought it would help, I'd advise you to stick it out and hope his romance will blow over. But I can't -- because whatever respect and gratitude he felt for you is gone. The pain you are experiencing will end only when you find your self-respect and usher the two lovebirds out the door. For your own sake, please do it soon.

DEAR ABBY: I am SUPER outgoing! Always have been. I can walk up to anyone and start a conversation. As I've gotten older, I've noticed that many people have no personality. During the pandemic it became exponentially worse. Neighbors don't speak. People look at their phones every waking minute and have lost their conversational skills. It is pathetic.

I don't know people's backgrounds or interests just by looking at them. I'm smart, but I'm not telepathic. If people don't know how to simply say "hi" or "good morning," something is wrong! COVID shut things down. But if you weren't friendly before the pandemic, how are you going to be five years from now? Humanity is doomed if we don't interact. -- FRIENDLY IN THE EAST

DEAR FRIENDLY: The COVID disruption may have contributed to what you are describing, but it had been building for at least the past 20 years. As people became more and more fixated on their electronic devices, the ability to look someone in the eye and converse withered.

If you don't look someone in the eye and communicate in person, the ability to read social cues withers and is eventually lost. I believe this has caused much of the isolation and loneliness we are experiencing in our society. If we are going to fix this, people will have to teach themselves to unplug and reach out to the people around them. Making the time to exchange social amenities as simple as smiling and saying, "Good morning," is an easy place to start.

DEAR ABBY: I have been divorced for nine years. Before that I was a stay-at-home mom raising four children. I had an in-home business, and most of the money went to our family's needs.

My husband became an alcoholic 20 years into our 28-year marriage. After we divorced, my two adult daughters abandoned me because I receive spousal support from their father. Whenever I let them know how much I miss them, the only answer they give is that they will resume a relationship when I stop "taking the money."

My younger daughter and I were close for years after the divorce. Then, all of a sudden, everything changed, and she ceased all communication. I used to have wonderful relationships with both. They have since blocked communication with me and moved far away from me and their father.

I would love to have a relationship with them, but everything is a dead end. If you're wondering, yes, the money is used for living expenses, help, etc. Please help. -- INCREDULOUS IN OREGON

DEAR INCREDULOUS: So your daughters have decided to side with their drunkard of a father and are trying to blackmail you into submission. PLEASE don't allow them to get away with it. Continue taking the alimony to which you are entitled, and go on with your life. You can only hope that your daughters eventually will see the light. As I see it, you really have no other choice because, at this point, you are dependent on those funds to survive.

DEAR ABBY: I am struggling with whether I am obligated to organize a party for our 50th anniversary. I was the main caregiver for my wife until a year ago, when I physically could no longer do it and had to put her in a board and care facility. She has Alzheimer's, is wheelchair-bound, and must be fed and changed.

I still work during the day, but I help put her to bed at night. On the weekends, I wheel her to a park so she can get fresh air and watch kids on the playground. She perks up when she sees me, and I always feel good when I can get her to laugh about something her goofy husband tried to do or botched.

We have five grandchildren close by, and she has two sisters and a brother and many cousins. One sister visits her often. The care facility is small, but they love parties. Anniversaries are important, but as time goes on, they seem to just come and go. I feel like the luckiest guy in the world to have shared my life with my wife. I would appreciate your thoughts. -- PARTY OR NOT IN CALIFORNIA

DEAR PARTY OR NOT: If you think your wife would enjoy it, arrange for a cake and beverages and invite the relatives. Before you do that, though, ask her caregivers if it would intimidate or frighten her to have so much activity going on around her. If it would give you pleasure to do this, you have my blessing. However, please remember that it is not an obligation.