DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My husband and I recently retired. We sold our house and downsized to a smaller one in a mid-sized town. We moved in about a month ago and are looking forward to long walks, pursuing our hobbies, and maybe making friends with some other retirees.

It looks like most of our neighbors are younger people with families. We’ve exchanged some pleasantries with several neighbors during the last couple of weeks.

The problem is, it looks like we’ve been identified as potential childcare providers. We are certain we never even hinted that we would want to do this because we do NOT.

Yesterday morning, there was a knock at my door and a mom and her child were standing there. I was in my robe and my husband was still asleep. This lady, whom we’ve spoken to exactly once outside, sounded frantic with some story about her childcare provider was sick and she had to get to work.

I told her I understood her difficulty, but we are not available to babysit.....ever. She was livid. She blasted us on the neighborhood watch social media and several others agreed with her! There were comments about us being selfish and child haters. One used that “it takes a village” trope. They said that we were all about ourselves. Well, we are! We raised our families and now we intend to care for ourselves.

We are sorry we moved here. Now, we feel uncomfortable and wonder when our house will be egged or our car keyed. We chose not to respond on the website.

Why do people feel so entitled these days?

We actually know another couple, in another state, that this has happened to. --- NOT YOUR BABYSITTER

DEAR NOT YOUR BABYSITTER: Traditionally, presumption has never been considered socially acceptable, but it most certainly is on the rise, and not just with the younger generations. Like you, it bothers me. I interpret it as a failure to accept personal responsibility by the people who take it for granted someone will automatically do what they want done, when they want it done, and entirely on their terms.

That your neighbor would feel comfortable leaving her child with a stranger also strikes me as odd, but her level of desperation must have been very high.

I’m glad you chose not to respond to the uncalled-for social media vilifying. If she didn’t, it seems your displeased neighbor could have better used that resource to find a lead on appropriate emergency childcare, rather than to shred someone she barely knows.

I truly hope the situation quickly dies down, and you and your husband will be able to enjoy your new community.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: My boyfriend’s brief marriage to his high school girlfriend was over way before he and I met, and he has told me more than once how he is completely over her.

Why then I ask you, does he still get all teary and sad when he hears their song, “Ready for Your Love”? It’s a really good song, and I used to like it, but not so much when I get the feeling my boyfriend is back with his ex in his mind every time he hears it.

Do you think it’s okay for someone to hold onto that kind of feeling when he’s with someone new? --- NOT OUR SONG

DEAR NOT OUR SONG: You may have your boyfriend’s heart now, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t entitled to memories he made before you were in his life.

His ex-wife may have been more than the high school sweetheart he married. It’s not unlikely she was his first real love, and that’s something that’s special and will forever be part of who he is.

I’d say let him enjoy his momentary reflections. They may bring him back to more of his past than just his romantic memories. For him it may be a brief connection to other people and places that were also precious to him when he was younger.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: I have worked in my store since I was a teenager. It’s where I made my money during my summer vacations, where I was brought on fulltime as an assistant manager when I graduated college, and where I always had parttime or fulltime work when I needed it when my babies came along.

The whole chain is now in bankruptcy closing mode, and not only is the store itself getting sadder and more empty by the week, but the morale of all of us still working there is, as one of my coworkers says, “lower than a snake’s belly.”

A big part of why we’re all so bummed, besides soon being out of jobs, is that this was a really good company to work for. Both our local and regional managers, and on up to the top of the corporate chain felt an obligation to us as much as to the bottom line, and some news stories and analyses make it sound like that’s a part of why the company couldn’t compete in the current retail environment.

I have been doing some serious thinking about what I want to do next, and although I have loved working in retail, my gut tells me it’s time to look elsewhere.

Don’t you think it’s sad to have to leave the work you love because of how sh##ty the industry it is part of has become? --- WILL MISS MY STORE

DEAR WILL MISS MY STORE: I agree it’s extremely unfortunate that people are having to leave the jobs they love because industries and businesses are undergoing radical changes or vanishing.

Although there may not be nearly as many retail outlets as there were just a few years ago, I think many of us continue to enjoy the experience of in-person shopping.

It’s possible you may yet find another store that will offer you at least some of the positive experiences you had at your current company. With the holidays approaching, you could potentially audition a new place by being hired as a seasonal employee. It might be worth a try before turning away from what you’ve enjoyed doing for so long.