DEAR ABBY,
I have a double problem and I don't know what to do.
My son, let's call him Martin, is working at the American Embassy in Paris. He recently called me with a fascinating story. His best friend (since grade school), let's call him Frank, went to stay with him. Frank doesn't speak a word of French, but he is tall, dark and handsome and has a way with the girls. Apparently, unbeknownst to Martin, he took up with a young lady before he left Paris to go on a whirlwind trip of Europe .
Frank arranged to meet back up with Martin on his return at a Parisian Bistro. The amazing thing is that the young lady was there with three of her friends, and Martin overheard them talking before Frank arrived. She was telling her three friends about Frank, and how he had promised to write, but that she'd heard nothing. Apparently they were giving her all sorts of advice--e-mail him, phone him, forget about him--but then she totally broke down and revealed that she thought she was pregnant.
As if this was not distressing enough, two American men walked in, hand-in-hand, ordered huge amounts of food, began to eat (they were I regret to say quite corpulent) and one of them began to choke. The young lady leapt up, performed the Heimlich maneuver on him and actually saved his life. In this melee, Frank arrived, and he and Martin slipped out incognito before the young lady saw Frank.
And this is where my quandary begins. A couple of days after Martin's call to me, I heard from my best friend, let's call her Martha Jo, who was full of excitement. Her son, let's call him Alex, had just returned from Paris where he had been on a business trip. He related to her how he had been sitting alone at a table in a Bistro when he began to choke and a young woman from the next table had saved his life with the Heimlich maneuver.
Should I tell Martha Jo that her son is gay? Should I reveal to Frank's mother that she is going to be a grandmother?
Unsure in Baton Rouge
