manners
Dear Mary
Q. My husband has always worked extremely hard and now does so from home — so I go to great…
Dear Mary
Q. I was instrumental in finding some much-needed work for a local retired secretary/PA when I recommended her for the…
Dear Mary
Q. Following the birth of our child we were deluged with cards, gifts and money from kind family and friends.…
Dear Mary
From Joanna Lumley Q. We receive a huge number of Christmas cards every year. When I take them all down…
The importance of giving offence
As dons at Cambridge vote on a new protocol on constraints to free speech, we mark this month the 500th…
Real life
If the novelty of going for a walk doesn’t wear thin for the marauding masses soon, I am going to…
Dear Mary
Q. Unlike my wife, I am tiring of Netflix. Wanting a project to occupy me during these long dark nights,…
Dear Mary
Q. For many years my boss gave each member of his small team a very generous Christmas gift voucher from…
Dear Mary
Q. My son has moved his girlfriend into our fairly small house for the second lockdown. I am grateful for…
Dear Mary
Q. I have a delightful young goddaughter who, thanks to the virus, I have not seen since last year. Her…
Dear Mary
Q. Is there a tactful way to wind up a Zoom call when one of you has more time on…
Dear Mary
Q. I would welcome your advice on a tricky family matter. For my 70th birthday earlier this year my brother…
Dear Mary
Q. An old friend offered to treat me to a birthday lunch, provided I choose and book the restaurant myself.…
Dear Mary
Q. I am running out of suitable responses to a friend who now has the slightest possible connection to one…
Dear Mary
Q. Many years ago I was asked to officiate at a funeral for a family I did not know. As…
Dear Mary
Q. My husband and I have spent many happy weekends in the seaside cottage of long-standing friends. Knowing how much…
Dear Mary
Q. I have just been out to my first lunch in months. Ten of us sat around a table in…
Dear Mary
Q. Some friends persist on displaying our email addresses in large address lists when sending out round robins to all…
Dear Mary
Q. For professional reasons it is important that I am not fat. However I have put on more than a…
Dear Mary
Q. My son is having his 30th birthday next weekend and has invited 50 friends to a garden party. We…
Dear Mary
Q. On my way to Devon recently I stopped for lunch with an impeccably mannered friend. He produced first crab…
Dear Mary
Q. We invited two friends to supper in London. As they came in they said they should order their taxi…
Dear Mary
Q. I am not expected to pay rent at the cottage which has been lent to me by a super-kind…
Dear Mary
Q. Our daughter is going ahead with her wedding despite the restriction on guest numbers. Although it is a relief…
Dear Mary
Q. As we attend socially distant events, we expect of our hosts a scrupulous accommodation of our preferences around physical…
