ASK AMY

I am tired of using other people's cell phones to call home to ask my parents to pick me up.

How can I deal with this? I am so embarrassed and humiliated over this.

What can I do? -- Sammie From Wisconsin

DEAR SAMMIE: On the long list of humiliations you could suffer, not having a cell phone shouldn't even qualify. You could benefit from some perspective.

I realize that cell phones are the necessity of the moment, but you should change your reasoning to make some headway with your parents.

This situation cries out for a compromise. Many parents don't want their kids to text their days away, so you should give up on that.

Ask your folks if they will permit you to try a pay-as-you-go phone. These are very inexpensive (though the calls get expensive if you aren't careful about monitoring your usage). If you could try out a phone for a month, you would be able to prove to your folks -- and yourself -- that you can handle the responsibility and expense of this device.

DEAR AMY: I have a milestone birthday coming soon.

On the invitations to the party, we state "No Gifts, We Mean It" several times.

I expect someone will insist on bringing a gift anyway. How do I handle it?

I plan to accept it with a, "You really shouldn't have. I'll open it later."

Then, I will stash it out of sight until after the party.

Do you have a better solution? -- Party Pooped

DEAR POOPED: In your hostility over your anticipation of possibly receiving an unsolicited gift, you seem to have forgotten to say, "Thank you" in your prepared statement.

(Send questions via e-mail to askamy@tribune.com or by mail to Ask Amy, Chicago Tribune, TT500, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611.)

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