Advice

Dear Abby: New desk comes with a view co-worker would like to avoid

Dear Abby: I like my job a lot, but I have recently been assigned a different desk. I now sit next to someone who regularly draws his blood with a lancet and gives himself a shot for his diabetes just a foot away from me.

I am extremely uncomfortable around blood and needles. I don’t want to make waves because this person has been here a lot longer than I have, and apparently, no one has ever been bothered by it.

Am I being silly? Would it be improper to ask my supervisor to move me? Moving desks is a big enough deal that I will have to give a reason. Help.

Squeamish

Because the sight of blood and needles makes you uncomfortable, discuss this with your supervisor ASAP. While these are procedures many people with diabetes must attend to on a daily basis, you shouldn’t have to watch if you don’t want to.

Dear Abby: My daughter and son-in-law were blessed with a child two years ago. My ex-husband (not my daughter’s father) has hardly been in her life since our divorce 15 years ago. She never called him Dad. We have both remarried.

He and his new wife have moved close to the kids and want to be grandparents. I don’t have a problem with them being close to my daughter, but I resent them being called “grandparents.” I feel that title should be reserved.

Frankly, this has put a chasm in an otherwise close relationship. My daughter and son-in-law don’t understand why I’m having a problem with it. Please give me some advice.

Earned the Right

OK. While I understand your jealousy, for all concerned, you need to realize that the more love and attention a child has, the better. Your grandchild will benefit from having many caring adults in his/her life as long as they’re not at each other’s throats. While your ex and his wife may not technically be grandparents, if you blow this out of proportion, you risk alienating your daughter, so I advise against it.

Dear Abby: I am a professor at a university on a military base in Germany. Most of my students are soldiers, their families or retirees, so my students range in age from 18 to 60. I do not yet have my Ph.D., only my master’s.

I communicate a lot with my students through email. How should I sign my emails to them? I can’t say Dr. So-and-So. Do I use my full name or Professor So-and-So? While I’m friendly with my students, I still believe in keeping a professional distance, and I want to convey a sense of professionalism in my emails.

Professor So-and-So

Sign your communications with your students exactly the way you have signed the one you have written to me.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

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