DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: There is a friend of mine at work who is always making comments about how our coworkers act or talk or dress or do their jobs.

I just listen and don’t say anything one way or the other. But I do know that if anyone says anything about how she looks or acts or does her job, she gets red hot angry and says something nasty to or about the person.

She even mutters under her breath about what our supervisors have to say.

I learned back when I was in high school to let the junk roll off me, but for my friend, it is a lesson not yet learned, and I see the potential for her getting herself in real trouble someday.

How can I help her not sound off or get overly worked up about what people say about her? --- DOESN’T TAKE THINGS WELL

DEAR DOESN’T TAKE THINGS WELL: I’ve known people like your friend. I usually chalk up their reactions to criticism as bouts with their own insecurities. They haven’t yet reached a level of maturity that helps them put things in perspective, a healthy habit you seem to have already acquired.

It might help your friend to hear from you that what she’s taking as a criticism is merely someone else’s opinion, and that if she honestly can find no truth in what they say of her, then she will be much happier if she just writes it off as nothing more than a view of things that differs from her own.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: All his life my friend Colton wanted to be a farmer. His uncle had a farm where Colton and his family spent most of their summer vacations. Colton and his two brothers and little sister were expected to work on the farm. The others hated it, but to Colton it was all he wanted to do when he grew up.

I knew farming was a hard life, but I didn’t realize just how hard until Colton got his own small farm and started working it with my help and the help of a few other friends, and even his brothers from time to time.

It was a hard few years in a row for the farm, and after sinking everything he had into it on top of taking out loans, he had to sell off the farm to pay all his debts. It was bought by a developer who has gotten approval to put a few houses on it.

Colton did okay in the deal, making enough to pay off all his debt and giving him a nice chunk of change for himself.

I would have thought getting out from under all the hard times he lived through for his farm would be a relief for him, but it is just the opposite. He has been depressed and keeping to himself since the sale. He goes to his job and goes home, and that is it.

A few of us have tried to get Colton up and running again, like he used to be, but he is just crushed. He acts like an old man and he just turned 32.

What else can we do? --- LOST HIS FARM

DEAR LOST HIS FARM: The loss of a dream can be a true grief. In Colton’s case, he had a taste of his dream coming true before it fell apart for him.

If I were you, I’d treat Colton like someone in mourning, giving him support, time, and space. It’s a balancing act, but hopefully he’ll come through his great disappointment and find other goals and ambitions, and perhaps they’ll work out better for him in the future.

DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: Starting in the 1970s when I was in college I was not only involved in student government, but I was also a member of several groups actively taking a stand against the war in Vietnam and Nukes, and supporting Civil, Gay, and Migrant Workers’ Rights.

These days I applaud the young people on either side of the Gaza War for speaking their minds publicly, and if necessary, forcefully. I do not agree with both sides of the argument, but I love their passion.

What has bothered and hurt me is how seemingly indifferent nearly all my friends from my youthful protest days have become. They packed away their caring for any cause beyond their own little personal worlds. While I was standing up with the young people at UC in May, my closest, oldest friends were planning trips to Disney with their grandkids and anniversary trips to Europe.

What kind of example are we Baby Boomers setting for future generations if we do not stay true to our social causes and commitments? --- FEELING LONELY

DEAR FEELING LONELY: Even if people don’t change fundamentally, we do tend to wrap ourselves around our current circumstances. Often that means a continuing shift not of values, but of what’s foremost in our lives.

The friends of your younger, politically active days may still hold true to the values and politics they embraced in the past. It’s simply that they have arranged their priorities in a different order than you, and that’s a normal, expected aspect of growing older, not necessarily a betrayal of those earlier times.

By remaining openly dedicated to your convictions and politics, you’re playing an important role in demonstrating to younger generations that age needn’t dampen the fire you still carry for the causes in which you believe.