YOUR PROBLEMS SOLVED
Dear Mary.. .
Q. My husband is a member of a well- known Middle Eastern family. For some reason, this gives those of my friends who would not normally dream of touching someone for a loan the idea that he is fair game for involvement in their dubious entrepreneurial schemes. Compounding the annoyance, there is often the patronis- ing suggestion that they are doing him a favour by 'letting him in on the ground floor' of a project for which, of course, they have failed to get bank support. Sometimes this can be quite wounding, as, for instance, when an old friend; whom I had not seen for some time, turned up for lunch accom- panied by a business partner, glossy brochures and ordinance survey map of the area he was hoping to acquire for expan- sion. How can one fob off these pests with- out my husband (the most philanthropic of men) acquiring a wholly undeserved repu- tation for stinginess?
Name and address withheld 4. You could effect a subtle defence by using the following method. Make up a large loose-leaf folder with prominent
colour-coded section markers. Write on these in bold letters such headings as: Refugee Relief, Religious/Educational Foundation/Medical Research, Environ- mental Issues, Family and Social Casual- ties. Next time your husband is importuned in this way he can bring the folder out and say enthusiastically, 'Let me put you in my fund manager's file. Which heading would you like to go under or shall we make a new one . . . ?'
Q. My 21-year-old sister, who has come to live with me in London, keeps losing the front-door key to our flat. It seems not to be an affectation but to stem from genuine absent-mindedness and to be incurable. It
is too dangerous to leave a key hidden somewhere outside the flat, so what do you suggest? Your solution urgently, please, as she keeps coming back in the middle of the night without one and sometimes I am not in myself to admit her.
M.S., Beaufort Street, SW3 A. You must insist that your sister wears traditional school knickers with a pocket in which she can keep her key. This should preclude the syndrome of her laying down the key on some social surface to be cer- tainly forgotten. These voluminous gar- ments are so far out of fashion as to be on the cusp of surging back in again. Indeed one fashion leader has deliberately driven to a school outfitter's in Dorset in order to stock up with a quantity in navy which she wears on top of the traditional white 'liners' or lining pants. Not only has she enjoyed an unprecedented level of pelvic warmth this winter, she also claims to have excited copy-cat purchasing amongst virtually all the girlfriends in front of whom she has
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