Dear Annie: Flaky dating app match is a waste of time

Dear Annie: In 2015, I met a man through a dating website. We got together shortly after and I was enamored by him. For the next five years we seldom got together in person, but we had almost daily contact via texts and such. I didn’t mind this at first because I was overweight at the time and overwhelmed with caring for my parents, who have since died.

I stopped communicating with him in late 2020 because our relationship was going nowhere. Five months ago, in 2023, he got in touch with me, but it is just like before. Lots of excuses for not getting together, but constant texts, and explicit photos and videos. I learned through the grapevine that he is not married but has been dating someone for the last two years.

Why does a man do this, and what does it say about me that I allow it? We are not teenagers but both in our 60s. His real relationships tend to only last two to three years, and his exes have nothing good to say about him. – Wondering

Dear Wondering: If it didn’t work before and he has not changed his ways, then chances are you are wasting your time and it won’t work again. Run 100 miles from this guy.

Dear Annie: I have been dating my boyfriend for eight months now, though we have known each other for 12 years. I think he is a great man. I have a problem with his cellphone, though. We go out to dinner and he lays the phone next to his plate and is always looking at it. I never say much to him, but I did say something to him this past weekend, and he said I was nitpicking. I just think it’s rude. – Aggravated

Dear Aggravated: If you think it’s rude, then it is rude. You are not nitpicking; you are simply asking for him to treat you in a way that you would like to be treated. You are having dinner with him, not with his phone.

Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com.