Dear Margo: I have a strong hunch that my husband's boss is trying to get chummy with me. Whenever there's a business function where spouses are included, this man generally makes a beeline for me and is very solicitous. "Can I get you a drink?" "Tell me how your little one is." He stays glued to my side until someone takes him away. (This man is divorced, by the way, so there is no jealous wife I can count on to save me.) I have mentioned this to my husband, who pooh-poohs it. He says his boss is really paying him the compliment by paying attention to me. OK, that's the background.

A Systems Failure of Sorts

Dear Margo: I've known my girlfriend for about two years, but we've been dating for six months. We met a while back, went on a few dates, and then I moved to another city for a year. I'm back in the city now, and we're pretty serious.

Here's my dilemma. About three weeks ago, during sex, the condom broke. We have been using condoms as protection because she doesn't tolerate birth control pills well. The next day, she took Plan B, so we're hoping we're in the clear.

The thing that came out during the course of all this is that we feel differently about abortion. I'm pro-choice, and she's pro-life. Basically, the whole event has made me nervous and gun shy about sex in general. With her not on birth control, not thrilled about Plan B and unwilling to have an abortion, we don't have much room for error. And given that a condom just recently failed, it's now at the forefront of my mind. I love her, but I am not ready, in any way, shape or form, to have a baby. How do I approach this? Am I being unfair or paranoid? — Ben

Dear Ben: No, you are being thoughtful, and better now than later, say I. To recommend abstinence is not realistic at this point, since you both chose to be sexually involved. To play rubber roulette — knowing what you now know — would indeed be stress-making. Given the situation, you and your girlfriend need to discuss the subject in some depth, including all possibilities and probabilities. There are different hypothetical resolutions to this problem. She could go for a different form of birth control (i.e., a hormonal ring, a diaphragm, the new model IUDs). She could opt out of intercourse. Should you be unable to come to a workable solution, I suspect your next inamorata will be pro-choice. — Margo, rationally

Not Everyone Is Technically Inclined

Dear Margo: You ran a letter that had me chuckling. It was the one about the young married woman who couldn't figure out how to use the washing machine and also, I think, the stove. Then I realized there are lots of us who find ourselves unacquainted with various things that one might think "everyone" knows how to work. I know of a middle-aged man who unboxed and set up his new computer. He turned it on and then called customer service. "The free gift with purchase is broken," he said. "Can I get a new one?" The technician asked, "What free gift?" The customer explained: "That slide out tray that holds your coffee mug." The technician could barely stifle his laughter. It seems this man thought the pop-out CD tray was a coaster! And I remember reading that Cher once admitted that when C-SPAN transmitted satellite pictures from space, she wondered, "Who develops the film?" — Rondi

Dear Ron: I'm with Cher. I love these kinds of bloopers because I am so prone to them myself. For a girl who has worked for Microsoft, Yahoo and now wowOwow, it is embarrassing to remember that I once asked, at a Slate/Microsoft retreat for writers and technical people, what exactly was this "browser" everyone was talking about. (Actually, I probably still couldn't explain it to you.) When I switched from a laptop to a desktop, I couldn't figure out how to turn it on. It seems the "on" button was on the "box" thing on the floor.

I also remember the evening when my mother and a gang of us were in a restaurant and she needed to make a call. I gave her a quarter for the payphone, and off she went — only to return to ask, "Where do you put the money?" Payphones were not in her repertoire, just as I think computers are much harder for older people to master, as opposed to little kids. Happy gadgets, everyone. — Margo, unconsciously

Dear Margo is written by Margo Howard, Ann Landers' daughter. All letters must be sent via e-mail to dearmargo@creators.com. Due to a high volume of e-mail, not all letters will be answered.