DR. WALLACE: My older brother at times gives me a ride to school. I'm 14 and in middle school; he's 17 and will be 18 in June.

My mom packs a good lunch for me every day, but my older brother always looks inside of it when we get to my school, and if he sees something he likes, he just swipes it from me!

He also tells me not to say anything to our parents, because if I do, he won't ever give me a ride to school again. Now I'm stuck, because I need a ride to school every morning because it's too far to walk.

What makes me really mad is that this car belongs to my parents, and they even pay for the gas.

How can I get my brother to stop taking my food? Out of five days a week, he will take something three or four times. He only leaves everything alone if he doesn't like what is there. — I Only Get a Partial Lunch, via email

I ONLY GET A PARTIAL LUNCH: This is ridiculous, and your brother is unscrupulous and a bully. Stop him in his tracks immediately by informing your parents.

You don't need to fear that you won't get transportation to school since that is your parents' responsibility. They will either get your brother to take you there without stealing parts of your lunch, or they will arrange another means of transportation for you.

And since your mother is making your lunch, why can't he simply check with your mother in advance to obtain a bit of whatever food he likes, so that your portions can be completely yours? It sounds to me as though he enjoys being a bully towards you on purpose.

If he were my son, I'd end his driving privileges for quite a while over this, perhaps a month or more. I'd also have a deep discussion with him about his behavior that is beyond unacceptable. Your letter also makes me wonder if his bullying extends to other areas of his life. Your parents would be wise to check carefully with your school to see if there are other red flags present there.

I WAS SURPRISED AT SEEING TWO-LANGUAGE SIGNS IN CANADA

DR. WALLACE: I recently took a vacation with my family to Eastern Canada, and I was surprised to see all of the street signs and stores had everything spelled in two languages: English and French.

I recall visiting Vancouver on vacation two years ago and there were only signs in English there. What's up with this?

I've also visited California and Texas, but there were no signs in Spanish there. Why do you think this is, and is it a good idea for a country to put some of its signs in other languages? By the way, I'm a senior in school and I've taken two different foreign languages classes already at my school, so I'm pretty interested in this topic. — A Curious Teenager, via email

A CURIOUS TEENAGER: I feel it's fine for any nation to put their street signs, store signs and especially airport signs in as many languages as they prefer.

French settlers landed in Eastern Canada in large numbers in the 17th and 18th centuries, which is why French is widely used in Canada.

The province of Quebec enacted a law that requires the bilingual signs that you viewed on your vacation. Other Canadian provinces don't have the same laws; therefore, their signs are nearly 100% in English, with a few exceptions in some places.

As a person who has traveled to several foreign countries, I always really appreciate seeing signs in English or Spanish when I'm outside of the United States: I can easily read the English ones and can at least decipher most of the content from the Spanish ones as well.

We don't presently have any bilingual signage laws in America, but it's always a possibility that new laws might create changes in the future.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at rwallace@thegreatestgift.com. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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