Why did LW1 put up with this in the first place? Unless my birthday or something was right around the corner, I'd definitely not tolerate my husband going somewhere that I'm no longer invited to. I wouldn't have been asking why I wasn't included. I'd be asking 'Why are you still going?' Yeah, her husband is probably cheating on her or, at the very least, venting about her to their friends. Or, I should say, his friends. They most definitely are not hers anymore.

Loyal Reader's husband, who was trim and ate a healthy diet, needed a triple bypass. He realized the problem was heriditary when he reflected on the "entire male lineage on his mother's side. He [had assumed] their heart problems were the result of Southern fried cooking, smoking, heavy drinking and obesity."
I wish the anti-health-reform folks who whine about "personal responsibility" would read that letter. Yes, our diet choices make a difference. But some of us are genetically predisposed to develop certain medical conditions. Blaming us for driving up up the health care bill is shortsighted, cruel, and I think simply a politcal ploy.

Re: Dr Grammy. Fine. Just don't sit there and tell me I need to pay for other people's lifestyle choices via higher taxes. We're rapidly reaching the point in America where none of us is responsible for himself, but yet we're all responsible for other people. If the guy's got health problems that aren't his fault, his insurance company should understand that.

Matt, she didn't tell you that.

I'm disappointed in your answer to LW#1. She should have picked up the phone and call her friend. They've been friends for 20 years--surely they can talk to each other! It would be enlightening to know what information the friend is working from to exclude a long-term friend and invite what clearly appears to be her husband's girlfriend. It's almost always good policy to speak directly to people and not make assumptions about their motivation without hearing their side of the story.

How many letters are we going to see about throat clicking? Tell the person who wrote in to see their doctor and be done with it.