Place stinky litter boxes as far from guests as possible

Dear Miss Manners: We have two cats. When the orange tabby uses her litter box, well, it’s just pungent and disgustingly smelly. What if we had company over? What’s the proper etiquette in these matters?

Gentle Reader: Bathroom facilities for the pets should be kept out of range of visitors. Within the family, agreement must be reached, with understanding and preference given to more sensitive members.

Dear Miss Manners: When I hosted a large event, I supplied the liquor, including two very expensive bottles of brandy, with the proviso that I would take home the remaining liquor at the end of the evening. I spoke to the hired bartenders before the guests arrived to confirm this. After most of the guests had left, I was surprised to find that both bottles of brandy were missing. The bartenders told me that they had not been emptied by the guests. The manager of the facility, pulled the video of the bar area, and it showed that one of my dearest friends had taken both bottles. How do I address this?

Gentle Reader: Your spying on your friends — even your guilty ones — is not polite. How, then, to correct the problem without admitting your own, lesser, transgression? Your first option is to admit the knowledge, but obfuscate how you came by it. “The establishment tells me you saved the brandies for me.” A gentler approach is to talk fondly of the party to your friend, mentioning that your only disappointment was that the bartender told you that someone helped themselves to the bottles that you were hoping to share with your guests.

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