DEAR HARRIETTE: I often travel with a colleague for work. We work in the field, and typically there is a lot of driving involved. The way the project is set up, my colleague is always the driver. He rents the car, figures out the navigation and drives, often for hours on end to get to our jobs. I don’t love driving, so in a way, this is nice. But it also seems sexist that the company has him driving. Beyond that, this guy is not the safest driver. He often jerks from lane to lane as he is looking at his GPS. Sometimes it’s scary. When I offer to co-pilot and say the navigation out loud ahead of time, he shrugs it off. I’m tired of holding my breath while driving. Should I tell him I want to drive? Should I demand to help with navigation? -- On Eggshells, Detroit
DEAR ON EGGSHELLS: Stand up for yourself. You have the legal right to drive a rental car that is rented by a co-worker. Tell your colleague that you do not think he is driving safely when he is reading the GPS and driving erratically. Offer to drive some of the time. Require that you serve as co-pilot when he is driving. Make it clear that you feel unsafe with the way that he drives, so changes must be made -- now. Try to work this out between you. Go to management only if you cannot resolve it together.
(Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)