How do you deal with your burdens?
Where possible, cope or shed; in other instances, just grin and bear them.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
• By trying to avoid picking them up, whether they are physical or mental.
Charlie Bamforth, Davis, California, US
• I hire a Sherpa.
Adrian Cooper, Queens Park, NSW, Australia
• It always helps to share the load.
Avril Taylor, Dundas, Ontario, Canada
• With lots of big garbage bags.
Lillian Henning, Nantucket, Massachusetts, US
• Just pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile.
David Isaacs, Sydney, Australia
• If I have the cash then I get someone else to carry.
Roger Morrell, Perth, Western Australia
• I carry them in recyclable shopping bags.
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Quebec, Canada
• What burdens?
Judith Auld, Exeter, UK
• I always lay them down by the riverside.
Michael Olin, Holt, UK
Maybe it wasn’t meant to be
Can there be love without sacrifice?
I have found there to be an inverse relationship between the level of sacrifice and the length of a relationship. So don’t overdo it!
B Wisnieski, Los Angeles, California, US
The eyebrows tell the tale
What is the difference between questionable and problematic?
One often leads to the other.
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya
• I don’t believe in the questionable. I do believe in the problematic but don’t know how to solve it.
Gillian Shenfield, Sydney, Australia
• Your question is problematic and your motive is questionable.
Pat Phillips, Adelaide, South Australia
• The position of the eyebrows.
E Slack, L’Isle Jourdain, France
• Problematic issues or situations raise questions. The reverse is not the case.
Lorna Kaino, Fremantle, Western Australia
• It is in questionable taste to pick your nose at a dinner party, problematic if you persist in this habit.
Ursula Nixon, Bodalla, NSW, Australia
If it’s really snug, it’s in a rug
Just what does it take to make a bug cute?
Having the decency to remain on the outside of my screened-in porch.
Earl St Jean, Warkworth, Ontario, Canada
• A jam jar with a tight lid.
Andrew Sheeran, Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada
• As I recall, it just takes a rug.
John Geffroy, Las Vegas, New Mexico, US
Just wasting your time
Is old age sometimes wasted on the old?
It’s only wasted when they are having to spend time reading articles on how to solve the problems of being old that are written by the young.
Alison Monks-Plackett, Pillemoine, France
• It’s certainly wasted on the young, that’s for sure. We old-timers have a lifetime of experience, and could offer them some very useful advice if they could be bothered to listen. Older but wiser!
John Ryder, Kyoto, Japan
• It’s not wasted if you accept it gracefully and gratefully. The young wouldn’t know what to do with it, and it’s certainly better than the alternative.
Joan Dawson, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Any answers?
What would the world be like if it had more roads than people?
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya
How did you finally take possession of your personal narrative?
John Geffroy, Las Vegas, New Mexico, US
Send answers to weekly.nandq@theguardian.com
