Before Dear Abby, Mrs. Thompson Solved Readers' Problems, March 12, 1921

Dear Mrs. Thompson: I am a rather serious-minded boy for my age, which is only 16. I have never cared much for girls, but there is one girl I care for a great deal and she seems to care for me. But when I write to her she either ignores or neglects my letters. She is the only girl I ever cared anything about and I would value her friendship very much.

Do you think I ought to ignore her in the future, or what ought I to do?

DISAPPOINTED

If you and the girl are schoolmates, or see each other often, a correspondence is a foolish thing. Doubtless her parents object and she is not allowed to write to you. In the future, treat her as you have done in the past, but do not write letters to her.

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Dear Mrs. Thompson: We are two young men 22 years of age, and we are engaged to two girls who have been going with us for almost two years.

We are working in coal mines, and when they got to working badly we went to a city where we met two other ladies. We were with them quite a few times, which wasn’t treating the other ones right, we know, but we couldn’t help it, for they seemed to treat us so nicely.

When we left the city they would not tell us good-bye, but said they would be true to us and wait until we got back. We had told them that we were going home on a visit. But we had quit our jobs for the sake of the other girls at home.

When we got home the girls did not seem the same to us. They didn’t treat us as they had before, although they seemed glad to see us. So we are engaged to the ones at home and love the ones in the city better, which we didn’t realize until we went home.

We hate to break our engagements, for we know it will surely hurt the girls, for they have trusted in us for so long at time. Would it be right to marry the two at home and never tell them of the other girls?

MIKE AND IKE

I would advise you to postpone marriage until you become more definite in the state of your affections, In truth, you do not know which girls you care more for, and until you care so much for one that you take no interest in the other, I would not advise you to marry.

It is far better not to marry if you do not love the girls. It will be better to break the promise. Since you do not care for the girls I would advise you to confess about the girls in the city, so they cab draw their own conclusions and not be misled into thinking they are only sweethearts and that you will marry them in the near future.

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Dear Mrs. Thompson: If you were a girl and had a young gentleman friend who didn’t work but “bummed” his money from his mother to take you to dances and to hire automobiles, would you still go with him, or would you look for some industrious young man? I only care for the good time.

GOLDEN LOCKS

You will have a better time when you find some one you can admire and enjoy because he is interesting instead of because he takes you to dances and hires an automobile. I would not advise you to waste time with a young man who will not work. There is a chance, however, that he cannot secure a position. Even so, he should not spend his mother’s money.

From The Charlotte News, Saturday afternoon, March 12, 1921