Annie Lane

Dear Annie: About six months ago, my boyfriend, “Jordan,” relocated to another state for work. We’ve talked about my eventually moving there, too, so we could be together, but we’ve held off making firm plans. He says he needs more time to settle in to life there. He also says he wants to be positive he sees himself at this job long term before I uproot my life, too.

He visited twice within the first month after moving, but in the past five months, he’s visited only once. I went out there once a couple of months ago. We do talk on the phone or video chat every other day, which helps.

The reason I’m writing is this. A friend of mine was recently in Jordan’s town for work. She is single and uses a dating app that shows people within a few-mile radius. While she was on her trip, she was scrolling through profiles, when she came across Jordan and recognized him. (She’s never met him in real life, but she’d seen photos of us.) She sent me a screenshot. I was shocked. I asked her to connect with him on the app to see what he said. He messaged her back almost immediately — but not because he recognized her as a friend of mine. He thought she was just a random woman, and he started chatting her up and asking what she was up to.

Devastated, I called him immediately and asked for an explanation. He said that he was just using the app to make friends and that if it made me uncomfortable, he would delete his account. I told him I thought that was a good idea. I’m wondering whether I’d be a fool to trust this man again. — Fooled Once

Dear Fooled Once: You know the saying, so I won’t remind you of the rest. Don’t give Jordan another chance to break your trust. That dating app is not meant for making friends, and this man is not meant for you. As soon as you accept that, you’ll be one step closer to finding someone who is.

Dear Annie: My father recently passed away. He had friends and acquaintances whom I did not know. Many came to his wake and left Mass cards not from his church. The problem is that the majority did not put a return address on the card or envelope. I have no way of thanking these people now and feel bad about this. Please inform your readers that if they would like a thank-you for a kind gesture such as this, they should attach a return address label so the family of the deceased can know where to send it. — Grieving in Upstate NY

Dear Grieving: I am so sorry for your loss. Your plea is duly noted, though it sounds as though your father’s friends simply wanted to honor him and cared little about the acknowledgment — a sign of what good company he kept.

Dear Annie: I recently filled a prescription for cough syrup that called for a 10-milliliter dosage. We do not use liters in this country. I had to go online to convert the amount to teaspoons. Could you give a shout to physicians, nurse practitioners and pharmacists to let them know how dangerous this practice is to the patient? — Irked

Dear Irked: I did some research to figure out why the pharmaceutical industry would use the metric system in the United States, where it might as well be Greek to many people. According to the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs, a nonprofit standards development organization, the International System of Units, known as SI, is better for designating dosages than the U.S. customary system. The reason is consistency. While the U.S. system has 300 different units, the SI has just seven base units. From the NCPDP: “The use of multiple volumetric units (e.g., teaspoons, tablespoons, droppersful) and multiple abbreviations … (increases) the likelihood of dosing errors.”

That said, the most important thing is that the patient understands how to take the medication he or she is prescribed, and it’s health care providers’ job to see to that. The next time you pick up a prescription, ask your pharmacist for help with converting the dosage.

Editor’s note: Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com. To find out more about Annie Lane and read features by other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.