Two months ago, a friend of ours had a big celebration. We all got dressed at home and met at the venue. My boyfriend happened to be out of town and couldn’t make it to the event, so I went solo. The first part of the celebration was a ceremony of sorts, and we sat in a well-lit room watching the goings on and talking amongst ourselves.
The second part of the celebration was in a dark party hall. When we arrived, I excused myself to use the washroom. After finishing, I went for a quick glance in the full wall-sized mirror. I was horrified.
Apparently, none of my friends were kind enough to let me know that the eyebrow tattoo tint that you’re supposed to peel off after a certain amount of time was still globbed on to my eyebrows. I ran into a stall and wiped it all off. By the time I found my friends, they were all too drunk to know what I was talking about. But it’s still bothering me. What kind of friends are they?
Bushy Browed
In my opinion, the best way to get through life is with a sense of humour. And the most important type of humour is to be able to laugh at yourself and not take things too seriously.
This is a perfect example of that.
Clearly, your eyebrows looked normal enough that your friends didn’t notice in the light, and they certainly wouldn’t have said anything in the dark. You can obviously rock the bushy brow, so go with that. And give your friends a break — it’s not as though you had toilet paper on your shoe, or your dress tucked in to your underwear.
FEEDBACK Regarding the mother-in-law who can’t speak to her daughter-in-law (Feb. 15):
Reader — “Being a mother-in-law means staying in your lane. Show her your support by not adding to her mental burden. As a young bride, I remember all the things my family insisted on and the very opposite things my husband wanted, and yet more ideas that were just my own that no one else liked. No one was overbearing but you could tell that they really wanted certain things to be done in a certain way.
“I am now a future mother-in-law. If you must make suggestions, rather than just saying: ‘Oh, look into this place and this place,’ I just went and looked at the website and saw whether it was in or out of budget and whether it met her vision. If it was out of budget, I just let them know they could cross those places off the list. I would only share information if it met her criteria.
“Yes, as the mother of the groom, I could make certain requests for folks to be on the invite list, but my son and his fiancée are paying for the wedding, so I am not going to add to a list that is already bursting at the seams. I have lots of ideas and suggestions, I would love to help, but at the end of the day, if she wants to do it all, then that is about her and her preferences. It is nothing negative toward me.
“Let it go, as you said. While her son should look at what he wants from this marriage, remember that none of us is as crazy as when we are planning our wedding. She may very well go back to her former self once it is over.”
FEEDBACK Regarding the date with bad breath (Feb. 22):
Reader 1 — “Thank you for your excellent advice column. A possible reason for the poor woman’s bad breath could be that she’s on medication which can wreak havoc on your digestion system/stomach, and therefore breath, which you have no control over. When I was first diagnosed with a type of epilepsy, one of the antiseizure meds given to me is notorious for giving you bad breath (thank goodness they were able to find a better alternative). Just thought I’d throw that out there.”
Reader 2 — “She could have a medical issue, like diabetes. I had a close relationship with a man who became diabetic later in life. He had the same issue. I am now able to recognize diabetes in people just by getting a whiff of their breath. He should take her out on another date and ask her. Then again, it could also be poor dental care.”
Lisi Tesher is an advice columnist based in Toronto. Send your questions to [email protected].
