Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Not rude to discuss public post on FB

Kathy Mitchell

Dear Annie: I recently attended my 10-year high school reunion. When we started college, Facebook was just gaining traction.

At the reunion, I was mingling with my classmates and catching up. If someone had posted on Facebook that they had gotten married or had a child, I would comment and say congratulations. There was one classmate who posted that she was going on a month-long trip to Europe. I told her that sounded fun. She responded by saying how awkward it was that I knew her personal business when we hadn’t spoken in 10 years.

If someone doesn’t want others to know about their vacation plans, they shouldn’t post them on their Facebook page for all to see. You can put as much or as little information as you desire on your profile. Was it rude of me to discuss this? – Awkward Turtle

Dear Turtle: No. When people post things openly on Facebook, they are courting comments from anyone who sees their page, whether or not that is the intent. As you said, there are ways to limit exposure, but you have to set the controls to do so. Privacy is becoming a luxury of the past. It is ridiculous to publicize your life and then act offended when people notice. Still, the best method of handling such unpleasant encounters is to apologize for intruding and back away.

Dear Annie: “Betty” wrote in response to “N.N.,” suggesting that her husband’s depression might be linked to celiac disease.

I do not have celiac but have battled with several serious health problems for years. I finally saw a nutritionist, who diagnosed me as highly sensitive to gluten. After three days of eating no gluten and feeling better, I decided to have a graham cracker. For the next several days, I suffered with a migraine, cramps and an awful “hangover” feeling.

My advice is, even if the celiac test comes back negative, he might try going without gluten to see how he feels. – CLP