Now that January has arrived, the focus at the State Capitol is the 2022 legislative session that convenes next month.
DEAR HARRIETTE: My four best friends and I have been taking annual vacations every spring since we were 23. We're planning another vacation now, and my friends want to bring new people I've never heard of before. I don't think it will be the same if we bring a bunch of new people. I want to tell them that I'm not comfortable with adding new people to our longstanding tradition, but I don't want to sound rude or awkward. Should I tell them how I feel? – Changing Traditions
DEAR HARRIETTE: I'm about to enter my final semester of college, and I'm excited to be done with school for good. Last semester was long and arduous. I'm so tired that I have almost no motivation to finish out the year strong. I cannot bring myself to commit to my work or any of my final projects. How do I stay motivated? – Senioritis
Laws to protect some can also cause heartache to others. One of those includes not making information available on crimes that involve juveniles.
For the last year, we've heard one commentator after another tell us that American democracy is in crisis. The source of that crisis, we are told, is a hard core of the Republican Party that believes the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump and that Joe Biden, therefore, is not a legitimate president.
DEAR HARRIETTE: My assistant has been doing a good job at work, so I offered her a promotion and a 20% raise. I was surprised and disappointed by her response. She said she thought the raise wasn't enough and that she deserves a lot more. I run a small business and do not have more to give her. I never know if all of my current contracts will last, so I have to keep sizable savings in order to pay for all of the expenses it takes to run the business. I know that many companies, including ones much larger than mine, don't even give cost of living increases on a regular basis, let alone a whopping 20%. I can't go higher, nor do I think she deserves it. But I also don't want a disgruntled employee. How should I handle this? – Disappointed