ArcaMax

DEAR MISS MANNERS: At times, a grocery checkout line will be very long, with only one cashier available. Someone with a full cart, three or four customers ahead of me, will offer a customer approaching the long line with only a couple of items permission to go ahead of them. They thereby award the same permission on behalf of all customers ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My son and daughter-in-law are expecting their first child. I broke the happy news to my best friend by telling her she would soon receive an invitation from them to their baby shower.

Instead of being excited and congratulatory, she huffed and said that expectant mothers were not supposed to throw themselves a shower. She ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: We received a wedding invitation for a wedding from my husband's nephew and bride-to-be. The attire for the occasion is described as: "black tie optional. Elegant, coastal chic. We ask that men wear jackets."

It is clear what my husband should wear, but do you have a suggestion for me to fulfill "elegant, coastal chic"? The ...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I enjoy going out with my women friends for lunch (just two of us). It is wonderful to get away from my house and my husband.

But recently, two of my friends have suggested that their husbands, and mine, join us. I hate this idea because I don't care to be around the husbands, and it would severely limit our conversation (I'...Read more

DEAR MISS MANNERS: As women, it is not our job to salvage a man's ego when he cannot take "no" for an answer. Honestly, we need to make this point, and loudly: NO MEANS NO. If someone asks you on a date, it is perfectly OK to say, "That's very nice of you, but no, thank you."

It is then up to the other person to accept that answer -- not to ...Read more