Links
Looks like we advice columnists are on the same wavelength--Cary Tennis fields a question from a woman who wonders "can this relationship survive" when her boyfriend is a flat-out filthy miser and she's moderately frugal. Read the letters, in response, too--those are always the best part.
Apparently at least one older man does feel uncomfortable when a young woman offers him a subway seat. So, young dudes--give up your seats to the elderly. Because we young dudettes can't always do so.
A reader alerts me to the publication of two new books, Don't for Husbands and Don'ts for Wives, originally published in 1913 and excerpted in the April Vanity Fair. Excellent article here from the London Times. You'd think it would be all godawful, along the lines of the famous "advice" from a 1950's home ec book, but in fact it's rather good:
Don’t let your husband wear a violet tie with grass-green socks. If he is unhappily devoid of the color sense, he must be forcibly restrained, but don’t be sarcastic about your husband’s taste in dress.Don’t be surprised, or annoyed, or disappointed to find, after treating your wife for years as a featherbrain, that you have made her one, and that she fails to rise to the occasion when you need her help.
Not bad, eh?
A great article from HBS's Working Knowledge about a software-testing company that employs mostly people with autism spectrum disorders. Apparently, most people HATE testing software. ASD folks like it a lot. And are good at it.
And finally, how to ask someone in the Ozarks to get their cows out of your yard.
Who is Miss Conduct?
Robin Abrahams writes the weekly "Miss Conduct" column for The Boston Globe Magazine. Robin, who has a PhD in psychology from Boston University, has worked as a theater publicist, organizational-change communications manager, editor, stand-up comedian, and professor of psychology and English. She lives in Cambridge with her husband, Marc Abrahams, founder of the Ig Nobel Prizes, which are given annually for achievements that first make people laugh and then make them think.
