Oh, how she wishes they’d do the dishes

Dear Amy: I recently moved into an apartment with three other girls.

When I arrived I asked if there were any rules I needed to know. I was told to just help out with the dishes. The previous resident never did the dishes, and the girls didn’t talk to her about it because they didn’t want to cause a problem.

This sounded fine to me, but then the pileups started. We have no dishwasher, but the girls just use dishes and place them in the sink. This continues for a few days until both sides of the sink are piled high with dirty dishes.

I washed the dishes. Then the same thing happened again, and the pile began to grow. No one else washed them, so I did it again. Then again the sink got full, this time they just put stuff on the counter or just left the dirty dishes on the stove.

Out of three weeks, I’ve been the only one washing dishes, and I hardly use any dishes. How can I get everyone to pitch in and clean?

– The Lonely

Dishwasher

Dear Dishwasher: You all need to sit down and discuss, as a group, how the house should be run to everyone’s benefit.

As the newest member of the group, you could call this meeting to clarify the rules of the house. So far, it doesn’t sound as if there are any rules.

Dear Amy: I believe you are way off base on your response to “P,” the attractive 16-year-old who was attracted to her 27-year-old male manager.

In the young woman’s letter, there is no mention of the manager making any sexual advances, saying anything wrong or worse.

He got flustered. Same as I did at a sporting event when an attractive woman started a conversation about the activities. I got a bad case of male fumble tongue for a few seconds before regaining composure. (Note that I am in my mid-60s and guess she was in her late 40s.)

There is no reason for your comments that the manager is “being extremely unethical and inappropriate, and should be removed from his job… . ” The extremist is you and your comments. Please, no more male-bashing.

– Ron in Everett, Wash.

Dear Ron: In the original letter, the male manager made a sexually suggestive remark to the teenager. Unbeknownst to me, this comment was edited in the letter as it appeared in my column, making my judgment of the male manager sound extreme.

No manager who works with kids should make sexually explicit remarks or suggestive jokes.

Send questions to Amy Dickinson by e-mail to askamy@tribune.com or by mail to Ask Amy, Chicago Tribune, TT500, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611.