DR. WALLACE: I'm a high school senior, and my boyfriend from the past year has gotten along in a neutral fashion with my father. Of course my dad is protective of his eldest daughter, and happily I feel my boyfriend has been respectful, punctual and reasonable during our time dating. However, there's no doubt that he and my father have not really bonded that well together, so they're not friends or anything like that.

I've had previous boyfriends who would come over and watch sports with my dad, as he loves all kinds of televised sports and is a huge fan of our local teams. But this boyfriend's not all that interested in sports, and he and my father have little to say to each other besides chatting about the weather and making sure we're back home on time for my curfew.

My problem is, I just found out from my boyfriend that he's planning to get his ears pierced in two weeks when his cousin from out of state will visit their home. This cousin has pierced ears and wears all kinds of jewelry and earrings. The reason this is a problem is, I know for a fact that my father hates seeing earrings on men because he's old-school in nature, and on more than one occasion, he's voiced his displeasure with seeing guys wearing earrings during sporting events or on movies or music videos, for example.

I really wish my boyfriend would wait to do this until we're in college and both 18, as it would be a lot less pressure on me to deal with. Should I try to convince my boyfriend to wait until next year to get his ears pierced? — My Father Is Against Male Ear Piercings, via email

MY FATHER IS AGAINST MALE EAR PIERCINGS: Your father needs to get his mind wrapped around the current century we're living in! It's really no big deal these days for anyone to wear earrings if they choose to do so. In fact, I'll bet the odds are extremely high that some of his favorite athletes that he watches play sports on TV wear earrings in their personal lives when they're not playing their sports, and I'll go a step further and say that some even wear them during their athletic endeavors!

It's unfortunate that your father not only lashes out the way that he does but also insists upon voicing his displeasure regularly. Let your boyfriend do what he wants on his own timetable, and simply keep his interactions with your father down to a manageable minimum going forward, especially since they're not close buddies at this point anyway.

Your father may not like seeing earrings on your boyfriend, but if that's the worst thing your boyfriend does in his eyes, your father should consider the bright side of the overall good fortune you are all experiencing in the big picture.

MY SISTER IS RUTHLESS WHEN A BREAKUP IS IMMINENT

DR. WALLACE: I'm female and a junior in high school, and I look up to my older sister a lot. She was great with me when we were growing up together, and now she's off to college. She's a sophomore there, and she's three years older than me.

Even though I look up to her a lot, I've noticed that whenever she ends a relationship with a guy, she goes out of her way to literally do her utmost to destroy the relationship so that it's not possible to for it to ever be resuscitated. In fact, she kind of goes out of her way to make sure that they won't be talking to each other after the breakup, but she does stop short of doing anything truly harmful or diabolical. It's really more like she wants to be sure that the guy won't come back and try to get the relationship restarted. Do you think this is advisable when it comes to ending a romantic relationship? I've watched her and questioned her carefully the last couple of breakups she's had so that I could try to determine if I felt that she was acting in an ethical manner. Even though I wouldn't do things the way she did them, I have to admit that she left things in a gray area regarding the ethics. She didn't cross any major lines, but she sure went out of her way to make sure these guys wouldn't contact her again. In some cases, she mentions a new guy who has much better qualities than the guy she's breaking up with, and I know that has to be tough for guys to hear, especially given the male ego. — My Sister Is Ruthless During Breakups, via email

MY SISTER IS RUTHLESS DURING BREAKUPS: I certainly would not take a cookie-cutter approach to the way your older sister handles the endgame when it comes to her romantic relationships. She obviously has a reason for doing things the way that she does them, and we could speculate as to why that is so. It could be that in her past, she left a little bit of a door open to one of her long ago relationships, and it caused her additional consternation.

But let's move past speculation and talk about you, as you should make your own decisions when it comes to your interpersonal relationships, and you can draw upon your own experiences and all the knowledge you've garnered from your family members, friends, movies or any other source you've absorbed over the years. What I'm getting at is, you should develop your own style that is comfortable for you. Based upon your concern with your sister's ethics, I trust your own personal ethics will be held to a high and comfortable standard, no matter what style you ultimately adopt as your own when it comes to your personal relationships.

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.

Photo credit: Josias Garibay at Unsplash