Etiquette lacking

My wife and I have lots of nieces, nephews and other distant relatives and friends who are graduating from high school, graduating from college, getting married or having children. On each occasion, we have been sending a very nice card, an enclosed letter and a very generous amount of money. We sometimes get two announcements in the same week, and it seems to be never-ending lately. What we cannot understand is that to date, we have received only one thank-you. We are appalled by the lack of good manners from today’s children and wonder what kind of parenting they’ve had. Sorry, but we cannot excuse this type of behavior. Our generation was brought up differently. From the time we were children, good manners were the most important thing we were taught, and etiquette was the benchmark by which people perceived others. We are sorry to have to do this, but in the future, we will not be acknowledging or giving gifts for these events, even if it means offending friends and family.

— Disappointed

No need to excuse this behavior — it is inexcusable — but you might bring it to the attention of your relatives, letting them know that you were surprised not to hear back from your nieces and nephews. As parents, they may be unaware of their children’s negligence, and perhaps they will use this situation as a teaching moment on the importance of good manners. This will be especially helpful for those who are entering the corporate world. Many employers refuse to hire an applicant, no matter how qualified, if the candidate fails to write a thankyou note for an interview. There are many positive results that come from writing thank-you notes, such as making the world nicer. It really is that simple.

This letter is in response to “Where Is the Love?” — who wrote to you about her 3-yearold grandson with autism and the fellow diners at a restaurant who got annoyed with him. As someone who works with adults and children with various disabilities, including autism, I must say we also get comments and stares when we are out in public. I agree that her son-in-law handled it the right way by telling the other diners, “He has autism.” I often smile and educate the public when I get comments. It’s our job to advocate for those who can’t always speak for themselves, so I applaud “Where Is the Love?” for doing her best in educating the public, and I also say, Annie, I would like to see us as a society just love one another more and not judge. — See the World

Differently

It is my dream to live in a more loving and empathetic world, and I’m happy to hear from people such as you, whose vision and dedication are what will bring that world into being. Thank you for your work and your positive words.

“Ask Me Anything: A Year of Advice From Dear Annie” is out now! Annie Lane’s debut book — featuring favorite columns on love, friendship, family and etiquette — is available as a paperback and e-book. Visit http://www.creatorspublishing.com for more information.

ACROSS

1 Looking to start something new, maybe 6 Syria’s

Bashar al-__ 11 Ed. promoters 15 Combined 16 Some Strads 17 Minor overhead? 18 Torch fuel? 21 Refreshing drinks 22 Georgetown

athlete 23 Is not wrong? 24 Rest, in a way 25 Tragedy involving a Milne character? 29 Things to hang

onto 31 Suffer 32 Can opener 33 Reserved 34 Noble title 36 Sylvia of jazz 37 Drawing by

Buffalo Bill? 41 Spit spots, for

short 44 Smidge 45 “In what way?” 49 Greek cross 50 Decline 51 Amp transporters 53 Spectator sport

aboard a UFO? 57 Whale group 58 Fix, as a toy 59 A pop 60 Gulf Canada

alternative 61 “No comment!” ... and a hint to four puzzle answers 65 Facility 66 1951 Reagan

co-star 67 Cell terminal 68 Slightly 69 Burden-bearing

beasts 70 Supported, as a

weak ankle

DOWN

1 Major requests 2 Losing purposely 3 Floral brew 4 Son of Seth 5 Dict. offering 6 Ones bringing

blessings? 7 “Later!” 8 “McSorley’s Bar”

artist 9FromAtoZ 10 Handy initials 11 Star __ 12 Fundamental doctrine of Christianity 13 Together 14 Down 19 Superhero with a

hammer 20 Spike __: railroad

worker’s tool 25 More than fix up 26 Take the plunge 27 Dump 28 “Conan” channel 30 Snaps 34 No. from a

builder 35 Sometimes

called, for short 36 Booted, say 38 Lifebuoy

competitor 39 Classic Yankee

nickname 40 Chuck alternative 41 “Incidentally,” in

texts 42 It’s often a high

chair 43 Granada greeting 46 Top secret store? 47 Coast 48 Diffused through

a membrane 50 Ophthalmologist’s

concern 51 Right-hand pages 52 Second emperor

after Nero 54 Backed up 55 Bright signs 56 First-aid kit item 60 Sicilian tourist

attraction 61 Field 62 Finance deg. 63 Sister of the moon

goddess Selene 64 Thick

No need to excuse this behavior — it is inexcusable — but you might bring it to the attention of your relatives, letting them know that you were surprised not to hear back from your nieces and nephews.