Etiquette
Dear Mary: How long must I wait to tuck in?
Q. I am always making or receiving phone calls which get cut off. When I ring the person back their…
Death brings out everyone’s inner Mary Whitehouse
Shortly after Bob Crow’s death was announced on Tuesday, Nigel Farage sent the following tweet: ‘Sad at the death of…
Dear Mary: Is there any way to wriggle out of a phone invitation?
Q. Is there a tactful way to keep one social offer on hold while waiting to see if you have…
The question that Dear Mary refuses to answer
Q. One of my best friends, who knows I don’t have a great social life at university, has a brother…
Dear Mary: How do you escape from a stranger's childhood trauma story?
Q. Recently a cousin and I gave a small drinks party in the USA. She had invited a very elegant…
Dear Mary: What do I do now I haven’t sent a thank-you letter?
Q. Over New Year I stayed with a man who combines being a generous and exciting host with a punctilious…
Dear Mary: How can I make my friends read the book I gave them?
Q. I gave a copy of Dan Russel the Fox by Somerville and Ross to a couple I know to be…
Dear Mary: How can I hide my tattoo from the in-laws?
Q. I have a tattoo the length of my forearm and am worried it will alienate my new boyfriend’s parents…
Dear Mary: What should I do when my dinner guests dive for their iPads?
Q. We had our son’s fiancée and her family to stay recently. After dinner, expecting conversation, we were shocked to…
Dear Mary: What must I do to reclaim the best poolside chair?
Q. I know this seems petty but last year, on our villa holiday, my brother-in-law always took the best chair…
