Must you go shoeless to a friend's house?

DEAR AMY: My friend and her husband have been friends with my husband and me for almost two decades. The problem is that the person who refinished their floors recently has convinced her that everyone should remove their shoes upon entering their home or they risk having damaged floors. I have a job that requires me to stand all day as an educator at a winery. Because of arthritic knees, I wear special shoes. The last time I spent time in my friend's home in my bare feet, my knees killed me the next day at work. I feel sure that if I were to mention this, she might let me at least wear slippers, but she would be uncomfortable the whole time. She has had trivial issues with people that have led to problems that lasted for years. Should I tell her why all our future dinners need to be at our house? Must I give in?

Aching Knees

DEAR ACHING: You two have been friends for a long time. Surely she knows about some of your medical struggles, so can't you just describe the impact of going shoeless and ask for her help in dealing with it? You could offer to bring clean shoes or slippers, which you would change into once inside her home (pair this offer with a nice bottle of merlot).

If she agrees to this but it makes her uncomfortable, handling her discomfort is her responsibility, just as it is your job to try to resolve your own discomfort.

DEAR AMY: "Ann" asked your opinion about what to do with wedding photos and an album commemorating a marriage that did not work out. Saving a precious few and discarding the rest may seem OK now, but I'd suggest that the writer may want to scan them into a computer and put them on a disk before pitching the album, just in case. A disk takes up very little room and should last for many years.

Les

DEAR LES: Scanning and saving! Great idea. Thank you.