DEAR ABBY: I have a friend, a contractor working for the U.S. government, who thinks he's in love with a Ukrainian girl. The pay is really good. He recently came back from a visit to see this "girlfriend."
He has been sending this girl almost all his money for the last nine months. He was never alone with her, and she showed no emotional or physical attraction to him. In fact, a male friend of hers asked him for $800 to give as a bribe so he wouldn't be drafted into the Ukrainian military. We believe this male friend is, in fact, the girl's real boyfriend.
My friend paid $300 to send flowers to her for their nine-month anniversary, for which she expressed no thanks or appreciation. What advice can you provide us here? -- FRIEND IN AFGHANISTAN
DEAR FRIEND: Your friend's "romance" seems suspicious to me, too. That he is giving all his money to someone who appears to be so emotionally distant is worrisome. I also have to doubt that $800 would keep an able-bodied man from being drafted into the Ukrainian military since the country is now involved in military conflict. It appears your friend is being treated more like an ATM than a suitor, but he may have to arrive at that realization on his own.