ArcaMax

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My child's school is having a staff appreciation week, which isn't a bad idea, given the effort they put in and how they enhance our kids' lives. What strikes me as extremely gauche, however, is that it's organized and run by the school, while asking parents to contribute.

This seems like the kind of thing that parents should...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: When serving a steak, the server will often say something along the lines of, "Please cut into the center to make sure it's cooked the way you want it."

At a business dinner of around 20 people, I was rather rudely corrected for doing so by someone who thought I was about to commence eating before everyone's entree had been ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My daughter was married this past weekend. She originally invited her maid of honor, "Sophie," without a plus-one because my daughter was unaware of any relationship. Sophie complained and asked for a plus-one so that her boyfriend, Sam (whom my daughter had never met), could attend with her. Sophie's parents were also not ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I needed to have the washer and dryer replaced in my apartment, and two maintenance workers showed up to do the work around breakfast time.

I usually make breakfast for my husband before he heads to school, but I felt uncomfortable cooking for the two of us without offering anything to the maintenance men who were there.

So ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am trying to drink more water, so I set an alarm on my phone to remind me hourly. Sometimes I am in public when the alarm (birds or crickets chirping) goes off.

I turn it off immediately, but my husband says the noise is rude. But if I could remember to shut off the alarm when leaving the house, I wouldn't need an alarm to ...Read more