A family friend isn’t heeding unsolicited advice on stimulus
will not be burdening them by attending.
Your daughter will attempt to convince you that you are mistaken. Assure her that you are not complaining and that you will certainly accept any direct invitations.
Dear Miss Manners: I find myself stymied by how to write an appropriate letter of condolence in extraordinarily difficult circumstances.
A young man who had been in my daughter’s class from kindergarten through high school died of a drug overdose. We do not have a personal relationship with his parents, yet if I lost my child under such horrific circumstances, I hope I would find it comforting to know that others remembered him.
But how can one correctly word a letter expressing sympathy for such an unimaginable loss? I hesitate to mention my daughter’s connection to this young man for fear that it would be insensitive, yet it is likely that they would recognize her name but perhaps not mine.
Gentle reader: Mentioning your own daughter is only insensitive if the bereaved parents resent your not having suffered a similar loss. Bereaved parents can be forgiven much, but as it is an ugly feeling, it is more generous to assume this is not the case.
Miss Manners trusts that a condolence letter from your family — which includes your daughter — will be taken in the proper spirit.
Dear Miss Manners: A neighbor invited us over for a nightcap by text. She quickly discovered the text was sent to the wrong person and reneged. We feel a little put out. How do we react when seeing her in the neighborhood?
Gentle reader: By mistaking her for someone else.
Dear Miss Manners: I received a bachelor’s degree in art history and am finishing up a master’s in another art-related field. For many years, I have often had to put up with people’s rude comments regarding my career choice.
When I tell people what degree I am pursuing, I have received responses such as (literally), “So you want to live in a box for the rest of your life?” or “So you want to be poor?” or “So you want to starve?” They will continue to demean my profession for several minutes.
I try to make a joke out of it and direct the conversation elsewhere, but I am losing patience.
Gentle reader: “Yes, I suppose that’s a possibility, but at least I will live poor and starving in a beautifully decorated box.”
Dear Miss Manners: How do you greet someone you know rather well when you encounter them in a shadowy situation where neither one of you should be, with people you shouldn’t be with? Just asking for a friend.
Gentle reader: Please tell your friend that it is done with a half-smile, in which the lips move slightly but the cheeks do not. It means “I didn’t see you and you didn’t see me.”
Miss Manners trusts that the two people are sneaking around to plan surprises for their spouses. Pleasant ones, that is.
at hand sanitizer. Please, I understand the need to use it but I hate it! I’ve tried dozens and they all leave my hands oily, smelly and just feeling icky. All I want to do after I use hand sanitizer is find a sink and wash my hands with soap.
off to see so many people wearing their face masks covering the mouth but not the nose. Leaving the nose uncovered completely defeats the purpose of the face mask. You might as well not wear anything at all. Come on people, cover the mouth and the nose.
at that the Cady Way Trail bridge over the ditch between Forsyth Road and Goldenrod Road has been closed for 6-8 weeks. This forces bikers, walkers, joggers, skaters out to the busy and narrow sidewalk on Aloma Avenue. Many business driveways are on this road and make it dangerous for recreational users.
at the one way zombies clogged up in the aisle staring at the empty shelves. Of course I’m going to turn around and go against the arrow while you shamble, drool and reach out to squeeze the Charmin that isn’t there.
ticked off when residents place trash/recycle containers at the curb two to three days prior to collection day. I can see the night prior to collection, but days ahead of time. What’s with your thinking folks?