Etiquette
Dear Mary
Q. We enjoyed the Christmas University Challenge series featuring mature graduates, some of whom were more in the public eye than…
Dear Mary: Your Problems Solved
Q. Since recycling was introduced in our village, the wall at the end of our drive has become the depositing…
Dear Mary
Once again Mary has invited some of her favourite figures in the public eye to submit personal queries for her…
Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. There has been a marked increase in the number of people who have pristine flooring and are so keen…
Diary
Oh God, it’s happened again. Another evening where I’m surrounded by people I know personally or have interviewed, and I…
Dear Mary
Q. What is the correct thing to say to a writer friend whose book you haven’t read? I buy most…
Dear Mary
Q. My future son-in-law has been successfully house-trained in the use of upper-middle-class English over the years that he has…
Dear Mary
Q. I am organising my 21st birthday party at our family house in Italy. It is a fantastic location, but…
Dear Mary
Q. What can you do when disorganised friends say they would love to come to a concert with you but…
Dear Mary
Q. I have been trying to get an apprenticeship in fashion for over a year without success. I just had…
Dear Mary
Q. When someone gives you anti-ageing cream as a present, is that an insult or a compliment? — A.O., Provence…
Dear Mary
Q. My neighbour is really lovely and always helps me chainsaw trees. He used to be the herdsman at the…
Dear Mary
Q. We have taken a flat in Edinburgh for a month and a young girl, temporarily homeless and a friend…
Dear Mary
Q. A scholarly book of great importance to me appears to have gone missing from my library. It was heavily…
Dear Mary
Q. At a drinks or a dinner party, when very attentive waiters are hovering, I tend to let them keep…
Dear Mary
Q. I live far away from my brother and his family, but went to stay with them recently for the…
Dear Mary
Q. My 16-year-old son, who has recently had his first experiences of Clubland, has observed to me, his mother, that…
Dear Mary
Q. My dear English husband has never mastered the knack of timing his interventions in conversation. He hesitates politely, and…
The triumph of the bores
Being boring was once the worst of all social sins. Now it’s practically compulsory
Dear Mary
Q. On arrival at a top level dinner, I was surprised to see at the table a woman who, I…
Dear Mary
Q. Our son, aged l6, has a medical condition which, although not life-threatening, requires surgery by a specialist to pre-empt…
Your problems solved
Q. It’s only April and yet I am being emailed by parents who have already taken charge and are drumming…
Dear Mary
Q. I am always making or receiving phone calls which get cut off. When I ring the person back their…
Death does not become us
Shortly after Bob Crow’s death was announced on Tuesday, Nigel Farage sent the following tweet: ‘Sad at the death of…
Dear Mary
Q. Is there a tactful way to keep one social offer on hold while waiting to see if you have…
