Latest from The Spokesman-Review

• Miss Manners: Invited guests carry obligation to send a reply

  June 1, 2009 in Features on Page C5 Dear readers: Guests ought to be insulted by response cards. Decent people of course already know (yes? yes?) that they must always reply to all invitations, even the most casual …

• Don’t delay enjoying good things in life

  May 29, 2009 in Features on Page C8 Dear Miss Manners: I have a flatware issue that perhaps you could shed light on. My everyday flatware is a set of stainless steel that I purchased over 20 years …

• Rules of engagement still apply to shady casual acquaintances

  May 27, 2009 in Food on Page C5 Dear Miss Manners: I live and work in a small, localized neighborhood within a large metropolitan city. My job is in retail, and I am paid handsomely to be friendly …

• Miss Manners: Proud mother seeks guidance on son’s graduation

  May 20, 2009 in Features on Page C7 Dear Miss Manners: My son will be receiving his Ph.D. at a ceremony this June. I am wondering what the proper procedure is for announcing this (to me) exciting and …

• Terms ‘fiance,’ ‘fiancee’ used for lack of better word

  May 18, 2009 in Features on Page C5 Dear Miss Manners: Am I the only one who finds this phenomenon confusing? “Miss Lucy Bainbridge and her fiance of 5 years, Mr. Michael Bagley, wish to announce the arrival …

• Good luck policing people’s choice of dress

  April 29, 2009 in Food on Page C5 Dear Miss Manners: You see a lot of cleavage in all sorts of settings these days, and most of it has been exposed proudly and purposely, so I’m used to …

• Miss Manners: Say ‘thank you’ but delay etiquette lesson till later

  April 27, 2009 in Features on Page C5 Dear Miss Manners: Will you come to my rescue and share with me a wise and prudent response to the “wisdom” that comes sometimes from the mouths of mere babes? …

• Miss Manners: Etiquette, public relations one and same concept

  April 24, 2009 in Features on Page C8 Dear Miss Manners: I work for a very large U.S.-based corporation where I was involved in a discussion involving plans for a luncheon. An individual involved with the planning had …

• Miss Manners: Left-sided nuptials leave reader cold

  April 13, 2009 in Features on Page C5 Dear Miss Manners: As a left handed person, I am offended by your reply that in the act of marrying, a woman stands on the man’s left side during the …

• Miss Manners: Business trumps personal calls

  April 3, 2009 in Features on Page C8 Dear Miss Manners: I employ five people in a small manufacturing setting. I encourage my employees to be friendly and have no problem with them talking during work or listening …

• Miss Manners: Professional rejection requires manners, etiquette nice touch

  April 1, 2009 in Features on Page C4 Dear Miss Manners: As the managing partner of a law firm, I receive a steady stream of (mostly) unsolicited letters from attorneys seeking a position at the firm. I say …

• Miss Manners: Look – don’t stare – at naked baby

  March 27, 2009 in Features on Page C8 Dear Miss Manners: I was changing my baby’s diaper in a public restroom the other day. The changing table had no privacy whatsoever, and anyone walking in or out of …

• Miss Manners: Clothing traditions hard to adapt

  March 25, 2009 in Features on Page C5 Dear Miss Manners: I just read about the tradition of requiring morning attire (until now translated as tails, pearl or black vest and striped pants) of all Justice Department employees …

• Miss Manners: Asking for money a delicate task

  March 4, 2009 in Features on Page C5 Dear Miss Manners: My husband and I serve on the Board of Directors of a nonprofit YMCA Camp, which was founded decades ago by my husband’s father and bears his …

• Miss Manners: ‘Tradition’ is about collecting money, not etiquette

  March 2, 2009 in Features on Page C5 Dear Miss Manners: When did the tradition of having others pin money to your shirt on your birthday come about? How did this originate? Is it some modern take on …

• Miss Manners: Be kind to laid-off co-workers

  February 25, 2009 in Features on Page C5 Dear Miss Manners: Several of my co-workers were recently laid off. Some of them are finishing up a few things for a week or two before they leave, and others …

• Miss Manners: Ask permission to take photo

  February 23, 2009 in Features on Page C5 Dear Miss Manners: A group with whom I was hiking in Peru passed close to a woman and a boy working the land on a picturesque hillside. Each of my …

• Miss Manners: Nonsmoker needs to control his enthusiasm

  February 18, 2009 in Features on Page C5 Dear Miss Manners: My spouse is an employee for the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. As someone who works for the organization, he feels that he is morally bound …

• Miss Manners: Follow protocol when inviting guest of guest

  February 16, 2009 in Features on Page C5 A stranger is stalking wedding guest lists: The Guest Once Removed. This is not someone whom the bridal couple or their families thought to invite or who is likely to …

• Expressing one’s needs no easy task

  February 15, 2009 in Features on Page D2 Dear Carolyn: My boyfriend once accused me of being passive-aggressive, and now I’m paranoid. Granted, I don’t find it easy to express anger directly but mostly that’s because I feel …

• Miss Manners: Rethink lifestyle when money’s tight

  February 13, 2009 in Features on Page C8 Dear Miss Manners: My financial situation has changed recently, and not for the better. I am in a quandary about how to deal with invitations to events that I cannot …

• Microphone etiquette: To leave or not to leave?

  February 11, 2009 in Features on Page C7 Dear Miss Manners: Some of the lectures and panel discussions I have attended recently have been large enough to need microphones to ask the speaker questions. I understand the process …

• Miss Manners: Even old-school ways can still be distracting in public

  February 4, 2009 in Features on Page C7 Dear Miss Manners: At a condo association meeting consisting of about 60 people, there was a head table with six people, facing about six rows of tables, about 5 feet …

• Embrace differences – once or twice

  January 28, 2009 in Features on Page C5 Dear Miss Manners: Because my job is to embrace cultural differences, I try to keep an open mind – especially when it comes to food. However, I had a host …

• Nosy questions need no answer

  January 26, 2009 in Features on Page C5 Dear Miss Manners: We are a very noticeable family, as our children are black and my husband and I are white. As such, we draw an inordinate amount of attention. …

• Couple may lack maturity to deal with ex

  January 18, 2009 in Features on Page D2 Dear Carolyn: I recently got engaged to an amazing girl. We have been dating 10 months, and for the past couple of months she has been talking to her ex. …

• Carolyn Hax: MIL regrets being left out of DIL’s life

  December 28, 2008 in Features on Page D2 While I’m away, readers give the advice.