Dear Margo: My sister, who's five years younger than I, just got engaged. Normally, I would be very happy for her, but I really don't like her fiance.

He is nice enough, but he seems incredibly naive, simple and uninteresting. The term "country bumpkin" comes to mind. My sister is attractive, well educated and has a professional degree. She is worldly, sophisticated and outgoing.

Unfortunately, she lives in a city that's not very large or ethnically diverse. Her fiance is the same ethnicity as we are, which normally would make me (as well as my parents) very happy, but I just don't think he is good enough for her. If he wasn't of the same ethnic group, I honestly don't think she would even be interested.

I fear she is settling because she believes she won't find anybody else, and all of her friends are now married. I understand her worries, but I think she could do so much better. When I watch them together, I can't help but feel sorry for her when she has to explain to him such things as "Why do they call this a quesadilla?" or "Why do they call this Muenster cheese?" Where has this guy been living for the past 30 years of his life?

She and I have always been close, but she has never asked me my opinion about him. — Distraught Older Sis

Dear Sis: For starters, this guy may have been living with me for the past 30 years, because I haven't the faintest idea why they call those things quesadillas or how Muenster cheese got its name. (Herman Munster?) It is interesting that your sis has never asked your opinion. This means she either doesn't need it or want it.

It is sometimes hard to understand what people see in their partners, and in your case, I don't think this man seeming "naive" and "uninteresting" is worth a rift with your sister. Plus, people very seldom listen to the warnings of others. Do not ask how I know this. — Margo, historically

WAAAAY TOO MUCH INFORMATION

Dear Margo: My best friend has been married for about a year. I am a single girl who's never been married. She often calls me when she has a fight or a problem with her husband, who is also a friend of mine.

She repeats their fights word for word and describes to me in great detail every problematic aspect of their marriage. She also has repeated many things that she says Hubby asked her not to tell anyone.

She has always been kind of a bigmouth when it came to her relationships, but her need to blab has gotten worse since she got married. I know that everyone needs a friend to vent to, but I feel she's telling me way too much private information — stuff she should be sharing with her husband or a therapist.

I am now uncomfortable when I'm around her husband. He seems to be a private person, and I don't think he'd appreciate it if he knew how much I know about their marriage and the things he's confided to her.

I've tried to hint that I don't think she should be telling me so much, but she just talks right over me. — Not a Therapist

Dear Not: Stop hinting to the blabbermouth bride, and tell her, outright, that all the verbatim reportage is doing a disservice to you, her husband and her marriage. Suggest that she instead tell a marriage counselor and also endeavor to learn a more mature and loyal approach to marital information.

With luck, she will find a counselor who will get her to understand the value of "to love, honor and button your lip." — Margo, prudently

Dear Margo is written by Margo Howard, Ann Landers' daughter. To learn more about Margo Howard or to read features by other writers, visit creators.com.