FEATURES
8A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MAY 19, 2015
Woman puts up with verbal abuse Tomorrow’s horoscope
By Holiday Mathis, Creators Syndicate Inc.
Dear Annie: I have been with
“Joe” since his wife died nine years
ago. The problem is, we have differ-
ent styles of communication.
$W¿UVWLWZDVQ¶WWRREDG,KDYH
WULHG WR DQDO\]H RXU ¿JKWV WR VHH
what I could do differently or what
we could do together to make it bet-
ter. But I have settled on the fact
that Joe can never be wrong, and
LW DIIHFWV HYHU\WKLQJ +H ZRQ¶W GR
anything in a new way, cannot say
KH¶V VRUU\ IRU DQ\WKLQJ KH KDV VDLG
RUGRQHZRQ¶WDGPLWWRKXUWLQJP\
IHHOLQJV DQG RIWHQ ZRQ¶W EHOLHYH
what I say. Worse, when he gets an
LGHDLQKLVKHDGKHZRQ¶WFKDQJHLW
even when presented with new in-
formation that proves him wrong.
And when I suggest he reconsider,
he often makes comments that are
below the belt and painful for me.
,W¶VIUXVWUDWLQJ
Joe is 75, and I am 66. We live
WRJHWKHU DQG GRQ¶W ZDQW WR PRYH
, NQRZ KH ZRQ¶W JR IRU FRXQVHO-
ing, nor will he believe anything
he reads that contradicts his im-
pressions. How do I keep my san-
ity and stop these fights? — Need
Your Help
Dear Need: /HW¶V XQGHUVWDQG
this. You are willing to put up with
what sounds like frequent verbal
DEXVH EHFDXVH \RX GRQ¶W ZDQW WR
“ax” is something you use to chop
wood. If the speaker had “axed her,”
VKH ZRXOGQ¶W EH DEOH WR DQVZHU
now, would she? “Ask” should
Creators
rhyme with “task.”
Syndicate Inc.
Last week, for the umpteenth
Kathy Mitchell
time, I heard someone say, “We
and
are having a sells event.” The
Marcy Sugar
word is “sales.” You are having a
sale where you hope to sell things.
You are not having a “sell.” And
move? Does Joe have any redeem- why do people continue to say “I
ing qualities that make up for his done this” or “I seen that” or “they
stubborn ignorance and disagree- come over yesterday.” These peo-
DEOHQDWXUH":HGRQ¶WVHHORYHKHUH ple have been to school and pre-
We see fear of being alone. You sumably learned the proper tense
cannot make Joe become a better for verb usage.
communicator unless he works at
Why are we so careless in our
LW ZKLFK KH ZRQ¶W 2QO\ \RX FDQ VSHHFK" 2. $QQLH , IHHO EHWWHU
decide whether you are willing to now. — Shepherdsville, Ky.
tolerate this in order to stay with
Dear Shepherdsville: Glad to
him. Some counseling for you alone KHOS6RPHNLGVGRQ¶WSD\WKDWPXFK
might be helpful.
attention in school. And how your
Dear Annie: Why do people pay friends and family members speak
so little attention to the proper pro- FDQEHDJUHDWHULQÀXHQFHWKDQZKDW
nunciation of certain words?
you learn in a short class. Rules of
This morning, I received a tele- grammar, if not reinforced at home,
phone call from a salesclerk, who often go by the wayside.
informed me that something I had
Standards have relaxed a great
ordered was no longer available, but deal, but still, people who cannot
she had “fount” a similar item if I correctly pronounce words are con-
FDUHG WR VXEVWLWXWH ,¶G OLNH WR VXE- sidered uneducated or worse, and it
stitute “found” for “fount.”
can affect the jobs they get and the
$OVR ,¶YH KHDUG VHYHUDO SHRSOH people they attract, which shapes
say “ax” when they mean “ask.” An the rest of their lives.
Annie’s
Mailbox
FRANK AND ERNEST
BLONDIE
THATABABY
SALLY FORTH
STONE SOUP
B.C.
LOLA
DILBERT
SIX CHIX
BIZARRO
MUTTS
NON SEQUITUR
BABY BLUES
WIZARD OF ID
ZITS
ROSE IS ROSE
ARIES (March 21-April 19). Just when
you think it can’t get better, it does. The
same goes for the opposite dynamic. You
can count on the universe pushing you
another mile in whatever direction you’re
traveling.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). For today,
there’s no feeling like the feeling of accom-
plishment. Knowing that there was a time
when you had nothing except the gump-
tion to make something substantial out of
it is priceless.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Everyone
you know finds this ground unfamiliar. Go
forward anyway — you’ll be a trailblazer.
Your sophisticated taste eventually will
move everyone into the future.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). You’re a
humanist. You don’t want to make fun of
the world; you’d much rather make fun of
yourself. That’s what makes people laugh
the hardest, and today they’ll relate to your
vulnerability.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Hard to believe,
but there are actually some people who
find the colloquialism “whatever” to be a
curse word. Avoid the expression today,
as your people will be even more sensitive
than usual.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Here’s the
recipe for a stellar day: Do something for
yourself, do something for a friend, and do
your duty. Once those three are covered,
you’ll be feeling pretty good about the world.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You can’t do
it all in one day, but at least you can list it
all so that you won’t forget later. Otherwise,
the less pressing (but possibly more plea-
surable) items might fall through the cracks.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). What you
have is not what you want. That’s fine, be-
cause you’re finding a way to make it work.
Do the business at hand, and the business
you wish for will come.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Inter-
rupting is immature and disrespectful, and
yet many people have this annoying habit.
When you get interrupted once, you’ll chalk
it up to the other person’s excitement. Twice,
though? Maybe it’s time to walk away.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You’ll
be doing what it takes to be the bigger
person and rise above it — whatever “it”
happens to be for you right now. You don’t
mind trying a little harder than the others,
because you have a feeling it will benefit
you in the end.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). A daring
person will inspire you to break a few rules.
It’s how you become a vivacious renegade.
Later, you’ll look back on today and note
that it was a turning point.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Multitask-
ing will be an exercise in silliness. What
you do while trying to do something else
will be, of course, ineffective. One thing at a
time will get it done.
WEDNESDAY’S BIRTHDAY (May 20).
It’s your year to make things official. Cel-
ebrate the successes you achieve in June.
In July, you’ll be reaching into new emo-
tional territory. A VIP will come into your life
in August. The sale of your possessions
or property will bring about a big and wel-
come change in September. January will
bring strong love. Aquarius and Capricorn
people adore you. Your lucky numbers are:
3, 13, 29, 14 and 50.