Q. Friends and I keep in touch and share our more memorable experiences on Facebook. One friend is an elderly woman who makes comments on our posts that are intended to demonstrate her wit and erudition but which never fail to come across as banal and irritating attempts at point scoring. She is delightful company in person and we have no wish to lose her friendship. How can we encourage her to stop her puerile comments without giving serious offence?
— R.P., London W1
A. Poignantly, your elderly friend may be using Facebook to signal that she still has her wits about her. But, of course, one of the first signs of dementia is that the inhibitory synapses go and long repressed grievances start to be freely expressed. Recruit an exact contemporary to plant a seed of doubt in her mind during real-life chatter. ‘I’ve started running my Facebook comments past my son,’ the fellow oldie can confide.
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