DR. WALLACE: My current boyfriend and I have been together now for about 2 and a half months. We had planned a hiking outing together in a really interesting area about 20 minutes from our hometown last Saturday afternoon. I'd been looking forward to this hike for well over a week because hiking is one of my absolute favorite activities to enjoy, as I love getting outdoors, exercising, seeing new places and taking a few photos along the way.

However, when the day arrived, it was unseasonably windy, cool and crisp when I looked out the window in the morning. I checked the weather report to see if there was rain in the forecast, but there was not. It did say there would be various gusts of wind off and on throughout the day.

About a half hour before my boyfriend was supposed to pick me up to go on this hike, he called and told me that because it was so cold and windy, it would be better if we didn't go on the hike together. He recommended going to our local mall to watch a movie together. At first, I thought he was joking with me, because I've learned at times he can be a bit of a prankster. But I soon learned that he wasn't kidding at all, as he felt it would be too uncomfortable for us to go out in a cold wind. I reassured him that I was up for it, but he told me that he didn't want to get out there and then have to turn around halfway through the hike and head back with both of us freezing and our teeth chattering. I literally told him that we should add a couple of layers of T-shirts, underwear and socks and that if we brought good jackets, we would both be fine.

To make a long story short, I was so taken aback by his cancellation that I finally told him I didn't feel like seeing a movie and that if we weren't going to go on a hike, I just wanted to spend some quiet time studying, as I thought that would get him to agree to go on the hike together. Instead, he simply told me that that was also a good idea and that we could plan the hike some other weekend.

Do you think I was out of line for expecting my boyfriend to go on a hike with me during a time that it was a little cool and windy, but there was no rain forecasted at all? And by the way, it didn't rain one single drop that whole day. — He Wouldn't Hike in the Wind, via email

HE WOULDN'T HIKE IN THE WIND: Well, there's an old saying that mentions you'll be surprised quite often in the first few months of a new relationship. These surprises generally come in both directions — positive and at times negative. From your point of view, it looks to me that you've gotten a surprise in the wrong direction regarding this outing you planned.

At this point, the best thing you can do is to bring up the situation casually and calmly at a later date and mention to him that you sincerely wanted to go out and hike that day and didn't see it as a problem. Mention you felt it was a challenge and an opportunity to get some fresh air and exercise even though it was windy.

Bringing it up well after the fact gives you a chance to clear the air and to see if he may give you a different response this time around. It could be that in the moment he felt like it would be unfair to you to push you given what he felt might've been less than optimal weather circumstances. You'll only know what he was truly thinking that day by asking him in a way that facilitates his honest feedback. And concerning your question, no, I don't feel you were out of line to feel that it was still appropriate to go on that hike.

MY NEW FRIEND USES THIS ODD WORD OVER AND OVER AND OVER!

DR. WALLACE: I made a really good new friend this year at my high school. Both of us girls are freshmen, and we went to two different intermediate schools in our city, so we didn't know each other until we met in high school. Both intermediate schools feed into the same high school, so there are a lot of new faces in most of my classes this year.

This girl is really nice and we have a lot in common, but there's one odd thing that she does that I find peculiar. She'll use the word "snagged" a lot. One time at lunch, she asked me to go with her so that we could "snag" two pieces of pizza from the cafeteria. She also called me one day and said she had "snagged" a date with a new guy she just met.

Whenever I think of the word snag, I think of when I get a hangnail or I catch a piece of my clothing on something and tear it a little. But she seems to be all happy and upbeat whenever she uses the word snagged. I'm starting to wonder if this is a word they used to in her intermediate school a lot and that I just don't know about for some reason.

I don't want to appear uninformed, but I was wondering if I should ask her why she keeps using the same word over and over again when it's a word we rarely hear in our daily lives. I don't want to make her feel self-conscious or uncomfortable, so I've been hesitating to say anything to her about it. What do you think? — She Seems to Snag a Lot of Things, via email

SHE SEEMS TO SNAG A LOT OF THINGS: Spending many years at schools, I've heard all kinds of dialogue, slang phrases and even code words being spoken regularly. It's usually human nature that individuals find a word or phrase they like to use and they repeat it quite regularly as a form of habit.

I wouldn't think too much more about it, as I don't think your friend is doing this intentionally or in any manner to act like a diva or anything like that. My best guess is that this is simply a word that she heard somewhere along the way and feels comfortable using in a variety of circumstances.

You might even use the word yourself once or twice in front of her so that you can have your own kind of inside joke and get a little personal laugh quietly to yourself! Perhaps you'd like to ask her if the two of you would like to snag some breakfast on a Saturday morning together, or something like that. Using the word yourself may help you to exhale and mentally relax a little bit more about it and maybe even associate a touch of humor with the word along the way. That will certainly sustain you better should she continue to use it as regularly in the future as she has thus far.

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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