DEAR MISS MANNERS: I attended a celebration the place I all of a sudden wanted to make use of the bathroom, hurriedly retreating to a close-by powder room.
After I exited, the hostess gave me a withering look and barely spoke to me for the remainder of the night, apparently sad that I had violated her very elegant room.
I notice that I ought to have requested her permission first, however time was of the essence. Apart from, I didn't want to get particular about my wants.
At what level is it assumed that powder rooms aren't bathrooms and that the bathroom in them is strictly decorative? Are they restricted to make use of solely by women who want to powder their noses and refresh their make-up? Being a gentleman, I've no such wants.
GENTLE READER: The nutty notion that visitor towels are strictly decorative has been round for a while now. They’re referred to as visitor towels, aren’t they? Why is it so arduous to determine what they're for?
The taboo is so prevalent as to trigger hosts who discover that their loos are pristine after friends’ utilization to wonder if it was a mistake to shake fingers when the friends left.
But the notion that the whole lavatory is a murals to not be touched is past nutty. Are you able to not image what could be in retailer later for a hostess who forbade her friends to make use of the toilet?
Please reexamine your reminiscence of this occasion. Was the hostess actually irritated at you? In that case, might it have been one thing else you could have mentioned or accomplished? Or one thing solely unrelated to you?
Miss Manners means that your letter of thanks add that you simply hope that you weren't the reason for any misery. She doubts that the response will likely be, “Nicely, you went to the toilet! Couldn’t you've got waited till you bought residence?”
DEAR MISS MANNERS: In my lavatory, I've a towel bar the place I hold two hand towels, every with a sample on the entrance. I dangle the towels by folding the edges in, in order that the patterned design is on the entrance.
When my mother-in-law visits, she takes my hand towels down and folds them in order that the sample is on the again, out of sight.
After the primary time she did this, I “seen” — whereas she was close by — that I had by accident hung the towel up backwards, after which hung it correctly. She had no remark, and continues to replace my towels.
I used to be questioning if maybe it is a customized of an older time? My husband has requested me to not “verbally discover” her helpfulness, however I actually simply wish to know why she does this.
GENTLE READER: Oh, no; actually?
As Miss Manners fails to know how visitor towels grew to become fetish objects, she would recognize it should you would ask your mother-in-law why she does this.
Is it to guard the embroidery, if not the towel, from moist fingers? Is it to encourage friends who may in any other case be intimidated by the design?
And might we transfer on to one thing extra fascinating?
Please ship your inquiries to Miss Manners at her web site, www.missmanners.com; to her electronic mail, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or by means of postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas Metropolis, MO 64106.