DR. WALLACE: My older sister is always telling me what to do condescendingly. She acts like she's completely right about everything, even though about half of the things she's told me in the past have turned out to be wrong.

Her latest thing is telling me not to pick up the salt shaker at home and put any salt on my food anymore! She claims that there's already enough salt in the various foods we eat. I eat snacks like potato or tortilla chips, so I'm a prisoner to eating a ton of salt anyway. This time, she might actually have a point, but I definitely want to get a second opinion, especially given her previous track record. — My Salty Sister Thinks She's Always Right, via email

MY SALTY SISTER THINKS SHE'S ALWAYS RIGHT: In this instance, I would tend to agree with your sister. Most individuals truly don't need to add more salt to their food, and several people monotonously do it seemingly out of habit. If you can get by without adding extra salt to your food, you'll be doing your body a favor in the long run.

You also didn't mention any examples of where your older sister turned out to be wrong, but I'll definitely take your word for it!

MY FAMILY DOESN'T UNDERSTAND HOW INFERIOR OUR SECOND HOME IS

DR. WALLACE: I'm a second-year college student and I still enjoy going on vacation with my family, as I have a brother and a sister who are still in high school. Recently, it came to my attention that another family who lives in our neighborhood happened to be talking to my parents and the subject of vacation homes came up. Our family has a vacation home in another state near a lake, but it's quite modest. I happen to know a little bit about the other family since one of my friends knows their daughter really well. They are very wealthy people, and their vacation home is in a major metropolis.

As I understand it, the two families have agreed to exchange keys and each family is planning to spend five days in the other family's vacation home. I am interested and quite willing to accompany my family on the vacation to this nice property. However, I'm worried on behalf of my parents that when this other family sees our modest lakefront home, it will be well below their usual standards and reflect badly on my parents and our family. I've thought about warning my parents about this, but on the other hand, if they do decide not to exchange vacation properties, I'll lose my opportunity to go to the nice accommodations that are awaiting our family. Should I say anything? — My Parents are Unaware of the Disparity, via email

MY PARENTS ARE UNAWARE OF THE DISPARITY: I wouldn't say anything, but not for the reason you find yourself concerned with. You are almost certainly unaware of what conversations specifically went on between your parents and this other family. They likely explained your lakefront property exactly how it is, and the other family understands this and it's likely looking forward to enjoying time near a lake for some recreation, boating, fishing and perhaps hiking.

In my book, you are way out of bounds to say that your parents should be concerned that their "second" property is not as expensive as this other family's "second "property. I feel that both of your families are quite fortunate to be in a position to have multiple homes, and that there are many other things you could concern yourself with that would be more appropriate than the issue you are trying to raise here.

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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