-
1 week ago | 
mercurynews.com | Judith Martin |Nicholas Martin |Jacobina Martin
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I work in an upscale office building in the downtown core. Our building is supposed to be solicitor-free, but on occasion we get walk-in solicitors, companies trying to sell their services and people trying to give résumés. This is both annoying and bothersome. Our office is locked, so these people need to ring or knock to be let in — and then when they come in, I realize they are not clients, but peddlers.
-
1 week ago | 
mercurynews.com | Judith Martin |Nicholas Martin |Jacobina Martin
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I was on a flight and sitting in the aisle seat. The middle seat and window seat were occupied by strangers. The plane had landed, and people were standing in the aisle waiting for the door to open. I remained seated, waiting for the aisle to clear. The woman in the window seat reached over and poked me, telling me to stand up. I have severe hearing loss. I have a hearing aid and an implant. I’m not sure if she had been trying to tell me this and I hadn’t heard her. I was infuriated.
-
1 week ago | 
mercurynews.com | Judith Martin |Nicholas Martin |Jacobina Martin
DEAR MISS MANNERS: Our daughter is finishing kindergarten and will start first grade in the fall. Neither the school nor our family is celebrating this milestone with a graduation or in any way differently than we would any advancement from one grade to the next. Our church annually celebrates graduates in the early summer with a certificate and public recognition on “graduation Sunday.” I think this is a charming tradition and an important part of being in community with each other.
-
1 week ago | 
mercurynews.com | Judith Martin |Nicholas Martin |Jacobina Martin
DEAR MISS MANNERS: As a frequent tourist, I take lots of photos wherever I go. I try not to be intrusive, but it isn’t feasible to ask permission of anonymous people in public spaces, and U.S. courts have ruled that nobody has a right to privacy in such settings. Everyone carries a phone these days, and the number of people taking photos has increased exponentially as a result. Candid photos are much more interesting than posed photos or photos without people.
-
2 weeks ago | 
mercurynews.com | Judith Martin |Nicholas Martin |Jacobina Martin
DEAR MISS MANNERS: My mother is a very sweet and kind grandmother to my 3-year-old girl. She always has gifts when we visit, asks for new pictures and is very invested in my daughter’s life. However, one thing irks me: She uses the wrong spelling of our daughter’s nickname. Each time she writes, “How’s Lucie doing?” I respond with something like, “Lucy is doing well.” She also puts the incorrect spelling on Christmas and birthday gift tags.
-
2 weeks ago | 
mercurynews.com | Judith Martin |Nicholas Martin |Jacobina Martin
DEAR MISS MANNERS: Our group of friends is about 15 people large. We have known each other for over three decades. At the opposite end of the group is a couple that we only see when the entire group gets together. We like to entertain and have invited this couple for years. They have never accepted our invitations, though they accept invitations from others in the group. In some cases they RSVP “no,” and other times they do not reply at all. Finally, we hosted a party and decided not to invite them.
-
2 weeks ago | 
mercurynews.com | Judith Martin |Nicholas Martin |Jacobina Martin
DEAR MISS MANNERS: One co-worker likes to host office parties with themed potlucks. She will suggest a dish that she will cook and bring to share, such as trays of chicken wings or seafood pasta. Generally a lunch would have eight to 20 people. As she likes to make these meat- or seafood-based dishes, she will then ask for financial contributions to pay for the ingredients and keep her own costs down. Everyone else is welcome to additionally make or bring something to share.
-
2 weeks ago | 
mercurynews.com | Judith Martin |Nicholas Martin |Jacobina Martin
DEAR MISS MANNERS: My husband and I attend our local university basketball games. Because he is hard of hearing, we are very conscious of the damage the excessively loud noise can do to one’s ears. We both wear hearing protection at the games: him to protect what he has left, and me to preserve the good hearing that I have. I am very much bothered when I see young children, some only babies, who are in attendance without hearing protection.
-
2 weeks ago | 
mercurynews.com | Judith Martin |Nicholas Martin |Jacobina Martin
DEAR MISS MANNERS: My son is graduating with honors from a very selective university. My husband wants to invite family from both sides to attend, which would require everyone to travel out of state to a very expensive city. Initially, we were going to host a nice party after the ceremony. Now it’s completely off, due to volatility in my husband’s job. He still wants to invite everyone, but let them know we can’t house them or provide any celebration outside of the graduation ceremony.
-
2 weeks ago | 
mercurynews.com | Judith Martin |Nicholas Martin |Jacobina Martin
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 organize if they want to, rather than being pressured into it by the school. If the administration wants to do it themselves, then they should fund it.
