Husband working at strip club gets dressing-down from wife

DEAR ABBY

Husband working at strip club gets dressing-down from wife

DEAR ABBY: My husband works as a bouncer at a strip

c l u b . I was OK with it at first,

but then he started making friends with the dancers and waitresses. They exchange phone numbers, and he talks to some of them late at night when I’m sleeping. I get upset and jealous that these women are getting his time. It causes fights. W hat shou l d I do?

— WIFE OF A TEXAS BOUNCER DEAR WIFE: Is your husband placing these calls, or are the women c al l ing him?

Tell him you feel they are a threat to your marriage and ask why the calls happen after you have gone to bed.

It’s possible the conversations are innocent.

The women may relate to him because his job makes them feel “safe” with him. Many coworkers converse after work.

Because a woman works in a strip club doesn’t mean she’s a predator.

However, because the timing of these calls bothers you, ask him if he would have them call before work rather than afterward when you would like him in bed with you.

*** DEAR ABBY: I host holiday dinners and always invite my husband’s side of the family as well as mine. Each time, my brother’s wife, “Arlene,” asks if my husband’s family will be there, and says if they are, they won’t attend. They are the only ones who don’t show up; all the rest of my family does.

When I asked Arlene if she has a problem with my husband’s side of the family, she said no, she just feels we don’t pay as much attention to her when there is “so much family.”

I have tried having separate dinners, but as the years have passed, it has gotten harder to cook two Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter dinners on separate days. After 30 years of this, I’m tired of having my feelings hurt and trying to please my brother and his wife.

How am I supposed to respond when she texts me telling me that if it’s just our family they’ll attend?

— TIRED OF IT IN IOWA DEAR TIRED: You are too kind. I wish you had asked this question 30 years ago because, if you had, I could have spared you a lot of grief. The next time your self-centered sister-in-law pulls that stunt, send her a text saying, “Sorry you can’t make it. We’ll miss you!” Then add a smiling emoji.

By Abigail Van Buren