Dear Abby: The old ways may be gone, but don't discount the young

DEAR ABBY: After 20 years of marriage, I am now again in the dating world - and, wow, have things ever changed! What happened to the days when men would open doors, kiss your cheek, or try to impress you by sending flowers, complimenting you and chasing you to go out with them? Nowadays, the guys expect me to impress them, call them first, etc.

What are your thoughts on this? I have been on numerous dates, and out of all of them only one man acted like an old-school gentleman. Unfortunately, he was only 30. I'm in my mid-40s.

I'm not super-rich, but I have a stable job, good benefits and two well-behaved boys. What's wrong with me?

- New to the Dating World

DEAR NEW: Nothing is "wrong" with you. Old-fashioned romance started dying out in the late 1960s and early '70s. As women became more aggressive, men became more passive.

If you like the way the 30-year-old man treats you, please don't let the age difference get in the way. Grab him, because his kind is now a rarity.

DEAR ABBY: In a column you referred to someone as a "controlling, slave-driving witch." A lot of people in the Wiccan community, practitioners of Wicca, use the term "witch" with positive connotations.

It took years of fighting the system, but we are now recognized by the VA and included on headstones with other religious symbols. And by the way, in our religion, the word "warlock" is an insult that means "oath breaker." "Witch" is a gender-neutral name. - Proud Male Witch and Veteran

DEAR PROUD MALE WITCH AND VETERAN: I hope that you and other members of the Wiccan religion will forgive my lapse, which was made out of ignorance.

I used the term "witch" as a substitute for the word I wanted to use because my editors told me that referring to a woman in that way is not acceptable in family newspapers.