Despite my greatest and most diplomatic efforts to elucidate the above, I’ve guests who insist on “helping” by bringing stacks of dishes and meals platters into the kitchen. There is actually no place to place them till I’m prepared.
Last evening, one visitor stood in the doorway with a stack of dishes and requested, “Where shall I put these?” I used to be tempted to go searching the kitchen and say, “Gee, I don’t know. Looks like there isn’t anywhere to put them. Which is why I asked you not to bring them.”
How can I get by way of to those unhelpful and oblivious guests?
Ah, sure. Like these type of us who will assist a bit of outdated girl throughout the avenue with out listening to her protests about being headed in the wrong way.
In your case, the well mannered factor is for guests to desist when a proposal of assistance is declined. What Miss Manners would have mentioned to that unhelpful one is, “Oh, just distribute them back on the table until I can get to them. Thanks so much.”
Dear Miss Manners: Growing up, I used to be taught that if you happen to used a visitor hand towel in the powder room at somebody’s home — or at a personal membership, or an envoy’s residence, for instance — the appropriate factor to do was to place it again on the towel rack the place it had been hanging, making it apparent that it had been used.
The thought was to be neat about putting it over the towel rack, but additionally to depart it considerably crumpled and not fold it again to its unique form.
Is this truly appropriate or not? Have you ever heard this?
Allow Miss Manners to congratulate your mother and father — not just for instructing you the correct disposal of a visitor towel, however for instructing you that guests could use visitor towels in the first place. Few individuals appear to know that — together with many hosts who put out visitor towels and are then outraged that the guests failed to know that they have been purely for adornment.
Yes, it ought to be clear {that a} visitor towel has been used. You can depart it on the sink or at the nook of the towel bar; generally there may be even a bit of basket there to obtain them.
New Miss Manners columns are posted Monday by way of Saturday on washingtonpost.com/advice. You can ship inquiries to Miss Manners at her web site, missmanners.com. You can even comply with her @ActualMissManners.