Dear Miss Manners: I refused to go to a fundraiser this year because the food was so bad last year, and because the cost of the dinner was over and above the donations. I decided, with so many charities to choose from, to donate elsewhere.
Although your friends are not alone in their opinion on this, Miss Manners hopes that fundraisers will not rely on such illogical passivity. If the charity event is not a reward to the donors for their donations, what purpose does it serve, other than to spend some of the money that could have been directed to the organization’s cause?
Either way, you are free to donate, or not, where you choose.
Dear Miss Manners: I am not a hugger. I have never enjoyed being subjected to the multitude of hugs my family, friends, co-workers and sometimes even acquaintances feel are appropriate. The other day, a friend whom I met for coffee swooped in for hugs upon greeting and again when saying goodbye.
I am fed up with these huggers. It would be one thing if they paused ahead of time so you could gently divert the hug, but no, they seem to swoop in out of nowhere. Could you give me some ideas on how to politely avoid these episodes of forced intimacy? The only person I want to hug is my husband.
You are in luck. These days, one need only pull back, cough slightly, and apologize that you are not feeling 100 percent.
Dear Miss Manners: My daughter is dating a young man whom I could believe had been raised in a barn. He has no manners. As an example, when he has eaten at our house, I have been told that what I served “isn’t enough” and that I need to provide more (two hamburgers instead of one, for example, or bigger steaks than the ones we eat).
I was shocked and let my daughter know that he is incredibly rude. My daughter spoke to him and explained that because her parents (my husband and I) are older parents who are from a different generation, we have different rules and expectations for dinner manners.
I was furious when I heard this, and I asked my daughter how she would respond if her children behaved this way in front of a host. That was the only way I knew to get across that bad manners and rudeness are wrong regardless of generation. I agree that some things have been changed, but this? Am I really an old relic of the past?
Yes, manners apply to all generations, but if what you heard was your daughter calling you old, you are as young as you feel, which, coming from Miss Manners, is not a compliment. What Miss Manners heard was a polite and clever daughter finding a way to motivate her boyfriend to change his lifelong bad behavior without herself being rude, or requiring him to inquire too closely into his own understanding of the world.
New Miss Manners columns are posted Monday through Saturday on washingtonpost.com/advice. You can send questions to Miss Manners at missmanners.com. You can also follow her @RealMissManners.
© 2023 Judith Martin