Hugging cousin creeping her out

Dear Annie: Several times a year, our relatives get together for family dinners. When my husband’s married cousin arrives, he pulls me into his body, wraps his arms around me and blows kisses in my ear. When we are in the same room, he sometimes walks up behind me and hugs me tightly.

My husband says to ignore him because he is simply being a jerk. I spend the entire time trying to avoid him. I have asked him to stop, to no avail. Am I wrong for feeling this uncomfortable? – Creep Factor

Dear Creep Factor: Hardly. This cousin is a world-class stinker who will keep groping you until there are consequences for him. The next time he does it, shriek loudly in surprise, and then tell his wife that her husband can’t seem to keep his hands off of you. That ought to take care of it, since your husband won’t.

Dear Annie: “Inger from N.H.” expressed a pet peeve about the way change is returned to the shopper in retail establishments. Instead of sympathizing, you simply said that the column was available for letting off steam.

My father was a former A&P manager, before the era of supermarkets, when clerks still waited on customers. I learned how to say “yes, ma’am” and “no, sir.” And we had one of those cash registers that didn’t tell you how much change to give, so I had to learn how to make change and count it out in the customer’s hand.

When you have experienced this kind of treatment, you never forget that we once lived in a civilized society. I, for one, fully empathize with “Inger” and lament the loss of a kinder past. Please let her know there are still some of us left. – Thomasville, Pa.