Dear Ana,
I had a weird romantic situation that’s hard to explain, but basically I know I can’t see or talk to this girl anymore at all whatsoever.
The problem is I will see her because I have classes with her this semester.
It would be easy to entirely ignore her and soon forget about her if I didn’t have to see her, but now it’s really rough because there’s no way I’m going to forget about her if I see her every stinking day.
I don’t know if I should acknowledge her because I’m the one who told her to stay away from me to begin with so it’d be easier for me to ignore her and move on, but now I feel awful about it.
Bad Past
Dear Past,
If in any of these classes you see a high likelihood of having to work in a small group or other situation with her, it’d probably be best to politely acknowledge her every once in a while so it doesn’t leave her resenting you when you are forced to talk together.
If this is not the case, I have three words for you – avoid, avoid, avoid.
Sit on the opposite side of the classroom or in a row in front of her so you won’t be able to see her the whole class period. Just sit down and pay attention to whatever else is going on in the classroom – such as that whole learning thing that classes are for.
Dear Ana,
I want to kick out my roommate mostly because he doesn’t pay rent. I have the right to kick him out at our place, and I want to because he’s wrecked the place and his back rent is piling up. I’m afraid of his reaction, though. I don’t want to deal with that, but I don’t want to be responsible for the rent he owes, either.
As long as he’s living here, the landlord will stay on his case for the rent, but if I kick him out I know he’ll come after me for the money somehow. Should I just suffer and wait until our lease ends at the end of the semester?
Leases are Evil
Dear Leases,
I don’t understand what kind of contract would allow the landlord to pursue you for your roommate’s back rent, unless there is no individual responsibility of each tenant for a specific amount. In that case, you signed a very bad lease and should never agree to similar terms ever again.
If you’re right, and your landlord is able to pursue you for his rent, you may be better off pushing through the next 15 weeks or so – unless you think that the landlord would go after you for the rent your failure of a roommate never paid after the lease is over because you two as a whole never paid the full amount promised in the lease.
Personally, I would suggest seeking legal help. There are programs in Lawrence and possibly in Butler County that allow a person a chance to meet with legal counsel for free or a very low price for a consultation.
Dear Ana,
I gained a lot of weight when I first came to college but I have felt really good ever since I started working out. I run with a friend of mine and it is fun to work out with someone else, but she makes fun of my weight all the time. This only started when we started working out together, I never really heard fat jokes from her before but now it’s all about how my body jiggles when I run and stuff.
One day, I want to kick her in the shins and keep running while leaving her on the ground in pain, but I know that is a bad idea because we hang out beyond running, too. How should I tell her to back off, or otherwise face shin kicking?
That’s Not Cool
Dear Not Cool,
When I hear about someone this rude, I feel like the shin kick is great retaliation for the stupid things they have said or done. But since you have thrown this option out the window, I would suggest saying in a nice playful way that you’re working hard and you don’t like hearing about negatives when you’re working on a more positive self-image.
If this doesn’t work, you should be firm and tell her everything you’re feeling (sans shin-kicking.) If that doesn’t work but you still wish to be friends with her beyond running, find a new friend to run with, change your times that you run, and simply don’t invite her running with you anymore.
