DR. WALLACE: My parents own a grocery store in our moderate-size town. They are busy all the time, particularly on weekends.

I'm female and a junior in high school, and somehow I've ended up being expected to work in the family store every Saturday morning until late afternoon.

It all started over a year ago when I needed to buy a particular piece of clothing from a store in our town, and I asked my mom for a ride on a Saturday morning. She was just about to leave for the store and told me to hop in the car with her and help her for a few minutes at the store, then she could take a break and drive me where I needed to go.

This is exactly what happened, but my father called my mother when we were just leaving the clothing store, and my mom had to rush back to the store and couldn't take me right home first. I ended up helping out at the store that afternoon, and my father made it a particular point to come up to me and thank me profusely for my help and to tell me what a good worker I am even though I had no direct experience.

The next weekend, my mother encouraged me to come down to the store to help for a couple of hours in the morning and mentioned that my father would be increasing my allowance since he was so impressed the previous week.

Now it's a year later and I've literally been working every Saturday morning until about 4 p.m. It's not like I'm forbidden from not working at the store, but somehow I have tacitly become an unofficial "employee." One of my good friends is encouraging me to "put my foot down" and tell my parents that I'm not going to work at the store every Saturday from now on!

I don't mind helping out sometimes, and I definitely enjoy the extra money, but there are definitely some Saturdays I'm missing out on some fun activities like hiking with my friends. Should I say anything to my parents, or do I need to stay silent and help them out since they do take pretty good care of me and I am getting paid? — Somehow Now an Employee, email

SOMEHOW NOW AN EMPLOYEE: You should absolutely speak up, and of course, my guess is that you'll do this quite respectfully. Let them know at least a week in advance for the first time, and then after you've been able to take a Saturday off at some point, see if you can sit down with both parents over dinner one evening and mention that you would like to work just part time on the weekends, not every single Saturday. You might be able to alternate Saturdays or work only two Saturdays per month, which might be a nice balance for you. You'd still earn some extra income, and you'd also have some free time.

And since you're getting paid, if your parents need additional help on the weekends, they can reallocate that capital to another person who they can hire part time. Chances are there'll be more than enough people interested in earning some extra money on an occasional Saturday.

IS THIS HARRASSMENT EVEN IF HE IS A FRIEND?

DR. WALLACE: I have a friend that I've been friends with for about three years now, and he's basically a nice guy, but about four months ago he found out from someone that I'm very ticklish.

Once he found that out, about once a week he'll sneak up on me and tickle me slowly, and I start laughing, but when I get frustrated and tell him to stop, he thinks I'm just kidding and he just keeps going and going.

The way he does it is quite tactless, and I definitely don't like it and don't want him to do it ever again. Could this be considered harassment? It's not like he's punching, shoving or hitting me, and he always talks to me in a nice way in a polite tone of voice when I see him, but this tickling absolutely has to stop.

What can I do about this? We've been good friends for a long time, but for whatever reason he's not getting the message, and I'm beyond upset over this. — His Tickling Is Torture to me, via email

HIS TICKLING IS TORTURE TO ME: What you're describing is absolutely harassment. He likely doesn't feel in his mind that he is doing anything wrong or that he's intentionally trying to harass you, but he is doing so all the same.

Immediately notify a couple different friends of yours and have them approach him individually and let him know directly, completely and without equivocation that you do not want to be touched or tickled any longer, ever. If you can get at least three friends to approach him separately, make sure they each stress that they are not kidding, and that this is a very serious thing and that you requested they speak with him.

Hopefully, this will put an end to it. If you see him approach you and try it again, let him know that he was warned and that you'll approach the school administration to voice your complaints there as the next step. It's too bad that some people are more interested in their own amusement than looking out for the rights, privacy and well-being of others, such as yourself.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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