Dear Hillary,
During my last medical checkup in one of the bigger clinics in Pattaya, the nurse had to poke my arms three times before drawing blood. When I asked why, she said I had bad veins.
I am quite concerned about it. Could you please tell me what it means?
Patient.
Dear Patient,
Not what you may fear. The nurse’s comment doesn’t necessarily mean there is anything wrong with you, only that she was having trouble tapping into a vein. The ease of drawing blood depends on many things - the size and prominence of an individual’s veins or the fragility of the tissue, the obscuring of veins by fat in the subcutaneous tissue, scarred veins due to intravenous drug-use, and not least of all, the skill of the person wielding the needle. So despite the nurse’s remark, it’s possible the problem was hers and not your veins at all.
Dear Hillary,
I am 13 years old, female, originally from Korea, and I have been going to school in Rayong for the past few years. I have been able to find many friends, with one girl from England being a very special friend. We like each other a lot and after school we are together most of the time and usually do not have fights. But lately my friend has started to behave quite strange. Whenever we are together she likes to show off a lot, especially when there are boys around. Sometimes it is just too much for me, watching her move her hips in a quite indecent way, especially when she wears her swim-suit and starts to move to the rhythm of a song.
The way I was brought up, this is not how a young girl should behave. It gives me, and not only me, discomfort watching her making a fool out of herself. A few times I’ve tried to talk to her about it, but as soon as I start she runs to her mother for comfort. I believe that she doesn’t tell her mother the truth for her mother always gives me a bad look afterwards. Even her father will get involved sometimes and will shout at me. It might be that all three of them believe that I am just jealous, but this is not the case. All I want is not to feel ashamed of her.
I have talked to my mother about this problem, but she doesn’t like to get involved. She said if the two of us have a disagreement, we will have to solve it ourselves.
What do you think I should do about it?
True Friend.
Dear True Friend,
Your mother is right to tell you that she doesn’t like to get involved in the quarrel of two teenagers. They are already old enough to settle their own problems. It never should be the intention of parents to take sides because it might end up with a fight between the parents and their child, which will take much longer to solve, while kids soon become best friends again.
If your friend’s father starts to shout at you again, tell him in a very polite way that he doesn’t have the right to do so. You are not his daughter whom he can scream at, even if you are still young.
If your friend starts to behave the same way - just walk away. I understand that you are a very polite young lady and if you feel ashamed of someone doing something wrong in your eyes, you do not have to bear it. After doing so a few times, I am sure your friend will ask you for the reason. Then you can explain everything to her. It might be that after you have tried to tell her to behave better, probably in front of friends, she just felt embarrassed and ran for help and comfort. That shows that she is definitely not as mature as you are, otherwise she wouldn’t do it. Look at her as a child trying to be a grown up - but doesn’t know how to manage it yet.