Dear Abby Advises Boundaries, Teamwork and Distance in Relationships

In a recent Dear Abby column, advice columnist Abigail Van Buren responded to three readers who sought guidance on personal boundaries and workplace relationships: a woman bothered by other women approaching her dancer boyfriend on crowded dance floors, a man whose new wife refuses to make routine business calls, and a mid-30s professional struggling to tolerate a coworker without damaging her career.

The first reader, who said she has been in an eight-month relationship with a man who draws a lot of attention while dancing, described situations in which other women step in beside them and try to attract his attention. She told the columnist that her partner does not pursue those advances and that the encounters sometimes spoil their enjoyment. Van Buren noted that the boyfriend appears to be doing his best to ignore the attention and advised the reader to mirror his approach and focus on changing her response to circumstances she cannot control. The columnist emphasized that while she cannot change other people's behavior, she can change how she reacts.

A second correspondent wrote that after remarrying, he found both his late and current wives shared an aversion to placing...