Choose your friends wisely

DEAR MISS MANNERS » We are staying in a vacation rental for a month, and we had guests fly in to join us for four nights. Their flight home was scheduled to leave at 5 p.m., so we needed to drive them to the airport at 2 p.m., which gave us time to enjoy the rest of the day on our own.

Their flight was delayed by 2 ½ hours. We learned about this delay a good hour before we needed to leave for the airport. How should they have handled this delay?

Could they say they are delayed and expect us to put the rest of our day on hold, waiting to take them to the airport?

Could they have not told us about the delay and let us take them to the airport, allowing us to enjoy the rest of our day?

GENTLE READER » Or your guests could admit to being delayed and offer to get themselves to the airport. You would still be left with a decision to make — delay your plans or take them up on their offer — but your guests would not have had to lie in order to be gracious.

If this plan is not forthcoming, you also have the option to say, “I am so sorry, but we made plans for the rest of the day. Could we help arrange for some other means of transportation?”

But perhaps the real problem here is with the guests themselves. Yours have seemingly done nothing wrong. But the fact that the enjoyment of your day seems to be predicated on whether or not you have to spend another partial afternoon with them is sad. Miss Manners suggests that in the future, you vacation with friends who are a bit more entertaining. Two and a half hours’ worth, to be exact.