Dear Maggie,

Recently my wife and I ran into an acquaintance of hers at a local event. I had never met this acquaintance nor had she met me. This woman, wanting to know who I was, asked my wife if this person was “Mr. (insert wife’s first name here).” Everyone got a big laugh out of it and I was standing there, emasculated. The story of this incident spread rapidly and I found my self going places and people referring to me as “Mr. (insert wife’s first name here).” Months later, you can imagine the trouble this has caused in all phases of my life, after all, I am the man of the house ... or used to be! I’ve tried every way to just let this go and spoken with many people about this. I’m wondering if maybe my only recourse is to confront the woman who said this to me and let her know my feelings were hurt really bad because men have feelings too. Or will I just be opening myself up for more laughter at my expense? I’m hoping your suggestion will help because I don’t want to spend money to seek help professionally.

Sincerely,

“Mr. (insert wife’s first name here)”

Dear Mr. Wife’s-First-Name,