DEAR HARRIETTE: I have spent years being mad at my father about things that he did and said to me when I was a child. I grew up in his household, and he was harsh. He was a taskmaster, and he expected everyone in the family to do exactly what he said, or else suffer his glaring eye. I was so mad at him because I felt like he didn't love me. He was rarely warm or kind.

Think back five years to the frenzy of news reporting and commentary over what was called Trump-Russia “collusion” – the allegation that the 2016 Trump campaign conspired with Russia to fix the presidential election. Most of the coverage, and especially the commentary, seemed predicated on the belief that collusion did, in fact, take place. But later, in one of history’s great never minds, the extensive investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller was unable to establish that Trump-Russia collusion – prosecutors called it conspiracy or coordination – ever occurred at all. The Mueller team spent years investigating an alleged crime and in the end concluded they could not establish that the alleged crime even took place, much less who did it.

We are preparing for Thanksgiving, assembling gifts for the holidays, maybe beginning to decorate the house. Prices are high, to be sure, but there is a sense – a welcome feeling, a relief, really – that things are normal.

DEAR HARRIETTE: I went to a work event this past weekend that was so much fun. I didn't realize how much I miss being around people. Just having the chance to hug other people and talk to them face to face was so nice, as I work 100% remotely. I'm grateful for my job because I was unemployed before the pandemic, but I now see that I crave human interaction. I'm thinking I should start looking for a job where I have to go to the office, at least on a hybrid basis. My friends think I am crazy. They think having the freedom to work independently is a benefit. I don't think so anymore. Am I wrong to look for a job in an office? — Need People