Dear Mike Cares, what advice would you give this dial tone of a fake mom?

DEAR MIKE CARES: My son has a best friend, "Earl," he has hung out with since they were 14. Earl considers me his second mother because his real mother deserted him after he graduated from high school. He has never married or had kids. I'm 76, and Earl is 55. He does small jobs for me off and on, like changing the lightbulbs in my kitchen, fixing a light switch, replacing my windshield wipers, etc. He calls me off and on, and we email a lot. We both love movies and enjoy discussing them and the actors. When he calls, I know I sometimes become long-winded. I'm sure Earl gets tired of me going on and on about my stuff. But instead of telling me he needs to go, he quietly hangs up on me. I think it's extremely rude. I wish he would just tell me he has to go -- I wouldn't be upset about that.

Earl never mentions it later, and we just go on as usual. I could tell him I'm never speaking to him again if he does it again, but I need him to help with those small tasks, so I don't want to make him mad. Must I remain silent about it? What should I do? -- LEFT HANGING IN CALIFORNIA

DEAR LEFT HANGING IN CALIFORNIA: I agree, this is totally rude and unacceptable to just stop or leave in the middle of any form of communication. I think Earl just assumes you will blabber on and on and on and won’t even know he hung up.  He’s probably been doing it for years.  The most effective way to solve this odd dilemma with Earl is to simply tell

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