ArcaMax

PHILADELPHIA -- McGillin’s Olde Ale House, the 166-year-old pub in Center City long owned by the same family, has determined that being a matchmaker is a strategic advantage in a crowded industry.

Of course they serve draft beer, Philly cheesesteaks, and wings — but the bar has leaned especially hard into being, in its own description, the ...Read more

Dear Eric: I have friends who have Alexa in their homes, and I understand that Alexa is a valuable tool when used as indicated. I also understand that it “listens” to any conversation carried on in its presence. This bothers me, because we often have intimate and/or professional conversations.

Is this a legitimate concern, or am I being ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I’ve (36-year-old female) been seeing a new guy (34) for about six weeks — we’ve been on six dates, things are going really well and there’s clearly mutual interest, but we haven’t had the “what are we” conversation yet. Now Valentine’s Day is coming up and I’m completely lost. Do I acknowledge it? Plan something? ...Read more

Dear Eric: I have been attending shows of local bands for more than two decades and have met a very nice group of people who go to these shows and developed many nice friendships. Due to health reasons, I normally sit in the chairs in the back, will wander and socialize at times and sometimes at the intermission I will go up to the front of the ...Read more

Dear Eric: My husband’s brother was a nice guy, albeit boring and a conversation hog. But he was family and we invited him, along with his wife and son, to our home over the years (they lived 500 miles away). He passed away three years ago.

His wife is one of the nastiest people I’ve ever met. She was verbally abusive to her husband, ...Read more

Dear Eric: I am regretfully asking myself if I have morphed into a de facto sugar daddy. I'm in a four-year live-in relationship with a 42-year-old woman. I am 70.

Many might think the 28-year age gap is prima facie evidence of a sugar daddy/sugar baby relationship. However, to date, the relationship has been the best, as it has been adorned ...Read more

Dear Eric: I have been a preschool teacher for more than 20 years. There are a few times throughout the year where the kids and their parents give us gifts, which of course is optional. Those occasions are Christmas, Valentine's Day, Teacher Appreciation Week and Graduation.

I have never asked for, nor do I expect to receive gifts from the ...Read more

Dear Eric: My mother is in her last months of life. She has been cared for in her home for the last three years by increasingly expensive home health care workers. I and other siblings have suggested over and over that she be put in a care home for round-the-clock care, but our oldest sibling (we’ll call them Jimmy) has steadfastly refused, ...Read more

Dear Eric: I'm a 73-year-old female who happily maintained a friendship I made my freshman year in college.

Two years ago, I noticed changes in my friend's ability to carry on conversations and her lack of awareness of current events. After Covid's isolation, she and her husband seldom left their house, and her husband spent more time on his ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I’ve been seeing someone for about two months. From day one, I told him I’m not on birth control and that condoms are nonnegotiable. Yet every time things get physical, he starts pushing back — asking if we can “just this once” skip it, saying condoms don’t feel as good, or promising he’ll pull out or be careful. We ...Read more

I get a lot of questions that sound something like, “Can you help me write a profile that attracts the type of person I'm looking for?”

In the most loving way, I say, “No, I can't do that.”

And I don’t answer that way to be dismissive. I answer that way because I genuinely don't know what the person you're looking for … is ...Read more

Dear Eric: For Christmas my husband and I travel a few hours and stay at a hotel near our son’s family.

There is a man that works there readying the breakfast buffet. Each Christmas he gets dressed in a very festive outfit. And he mistakenly thinks that trying to bear hug strange hotel guests coming in for breakfast is a good thing to do.

...Read more