DEAR ABBY: I recently moved to a new area of my state. I like the environment, the cost of living, etc., but there's one problem I don't know how to address. The people here share far too much information with strangers in everyday conversation. I think there should be some boundaries and limits on what is said in public.
While I was waiting to ask a salesclerk a question, the person ahead of me in line described her entire medical history in detail. She went on and on and on. There are times I can't get through a store without someone asking me question after question. They just look for that opening and start throwing questions at me! I believe in being polite, so I have reached the point of just nodding my head or responding with a yes or no most of the time. It's really off-putting. A lot of these people need to back off. -- NEEDS BOUNDARIES IN THE SOUTH
DEAR NEEDS BOUNDARIES: Many people ask questions as a way to start a conversation because they are interested in you or are lonely. Because you consider their questions invasive and you need boundaries, you will have to set them. A way to do that would be to tell the questioner that the query is a personal one, and you prefer not to share that kind of information with strangers.