DR. WALLACE: I am in the middle of an uncomfortable situation in my group of friends. One of my close guy friends is really interested in one of my best friends. My best friend, on the other hand, just got out of a relationship and I am not sure if she is interested in this guy at all.

He keeps asking me to help him set them up, but I don't want to create awkwardness in the friend group if she turns him down and it doesn't work out for both of them. I can foresee a potential downside for me if I push too hard to try to get her to go out with him

How do I resolve this without creating issues with either of them? I like them both of course, and I wish to remain good friends going forward with each of them. — Uncomfortable, via email

UNCOMFORTABLE: You are a friend, not a matchmaker. You don't have a matchmaking website or business cards to hand out for this purpose. So, simply encourage him to speak directly to her! This is what he should be doing anyhow if he has a potential romantic interest in her.

This will keep you out of the direct mix and let the two of them interact organically right from the start. After all, if they are to succeed in getting together someday, they'll be communicating directly on their own when the time comes, right?

What you can do now for him is tell him you're happy to provide a bit of background information about her. And by this I'm referring to noncontroversial and nonsensitive subjects only. Do not ever reveal any details you know about her that you would not want revealed about you if the situation were reversed. Don't ever go into any personal details about her past relationships. Aim to keep it light! The things I'm talking about here are her general interests, such as her favorite foods and snacks, her favorite hobbies and activities, music, movies, websites and so forth.

This way your male friend will have a better starting point to approach her from. For example, he could buy and give her a snack or treat she especially enjoys. He could invite her out to a concert or music show he feels she'd like. He can offer to take her on an outing that relates to a hobby or interest of hers. You get the idea.

And if your girlfriend later asks him, "How did you know I liked this food/music?" then he should tell her that he asked you and you let him know only what her general interests were. There's nothing wrong with this approach since they will or will not end up spending time together, but you will have been helpful and earnest to both of them, thereby keeping yourself in comfortable good graces all around no matter what happens once they interact directly.

This method allows you to have helped your guy friend with information that is surely useful, but at the same time not detrimental to reveal. And with your female friend, you can later explain to her that you wanted to stay away from being pushy to either of them and that you suggested to him that he speak to her directly, which you felt sure she could handle no matter how she views him beyond just a good friend.

WHY DO SCHOOLS WASTE OUR TIME?

DR. WALLACE: I just finished my junior year of high school and was talking to some of my friends over the summer about the classes we will have to take in our senior year. My friends and I all feel that most of the classes we are required to take in high school won't provide us any benefit at all in our future lives.

Why do schools make students take so many different classes in so many different subjects when most of them will be useless later on in life? I know you worked in schools for many decades so I figure if anyone can tell me, you can. What gives? — Schools Waste Our Time, via email

SCHOOLS WASTE OUR TIME: There are many reasons for this, starting with the fact that part of a school district's required curriculum is set up to provide a well-rounded education in many general subjects. Yes, school districts and educators realize and understand that most of the subjects that students study in high school will not be the actual subjects they end up finding a career path in, but the overall education has many cross-pollinating benefits. For example, mathematics applies to almost every career, and especially to family households when it comes to personal finance, budgeting, savings and life planning.

Speaking proper English and understanding how to read and write the language correctly has obvious benefits that last a lifetime as well. And with some of the other subjects, the goal is to provide exposure to subjects that some students feel they would have no interest in ever — that is, until they take a class in that subject and benefit from a good teacher who can bring the subject to life.

I can't tell you how many times I've been contacted by young adults telling me how much they now appreciate that they took specific classes in high school that back then they felt were not necessary! The idea is to keep an open mind and sample many topics to see what you think of them once you get "under the hood" a bit further by taking a semester to study them.

Finally, learning a wide variety of subjects also trains young minds to work, study and apply deductive reasoning to any subject. This in turn increases a young person's mental acuity, problem-solving abilities and logic development in many subtle ways that are usually only revealed over time. Enjoy your senior year by keeping this in mind. You never know what you'll learn or whom you'll meet in a new class.

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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