You won’t know if you don’t ask

Dear Annie: I have liked this boy for almost a year. When I first started hanging out with him, one of his friends told me he liked me, too. He eventually asked for my phone number at church, and I gladly handed it over.

But we soon stopped hanging out, which left me feeling hopelessly confused. My friends say I should just go for it and ask him for his number. What should I do? – Hopeless

Dear Hopeless: This boy may have needed a lot of courage to ask for your number and didn’t have enough in reserve to actually call. Or he may have been teased by his friends and pretended that it was a joke to save face. Or he may be less interested than you hoped. There’s no way to know unless you take the next step yourself. We know it’s difficult, so imagine a negative result – he turns down your request for his number. So? At least you’ll know he’s not the guy for you, and you can put it behind you. It’s better than hanging in limbo indefinitely. Good luck.

Dear Annie: You printed a letter from “M.W.,” who doesn’t like to travel because she suffers from motion sickness.

When I lost the sight in one eye, my ophthalmologist said I’d no longer get airsick or carsick. He said a NASA astronaut discovered that by closing one eye, the dizziness from the effects of being weightless went away. He was right. I can now fly and look out the plane window or read while riding in a car and suffer no ill effects.

I have told several people who suffer from carsickness to close one eye or wear an eye patch, and they have reported back that it worked for them. Maybe this will help others. – One Advantage

Dear Advantage: Thanks for the interesting suggestion. We hadn’t heard of this before, and we hope our readers who have this problem will try your solution.