On 3/2/2013 8:27 AM, jmcquown wrote:
> On 3/1/2013 3:48 PM, wrote:
>> DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am old enough to recall when guests came first.
>> Drop-ins might have been unexpected, but never unwanted or unwelcome.
>> The family made accommodations as if they had been invited -- even if
>> guests got most of the meal or the children of the household ate peanut
>> butter sandwiches.
> > sacrifices for adults all the time, so it would have been considered
> rude
> > for the "hosts" to make the "guests" eat the PBJ sandwiches instead.
> I only
> > wish MM had not ignored that possibility; it would have made for a more
> > interesting explanation of how and why times change.
> It doesn't really matter why things have changed, does it? Fact is,
> they have. This *isn't* the 1950's. IMHO it's rude to show up
> unannounced (*especially* around dinner time). I don't consider people
> like that "guests".
Miss Manners makes me laugh. She is the queen of setting people
straight. Clearly the writer has annoyed someone by dropping in
on them and was looking for backup that it's the other person's
problem, not anything they were doing wrong. On what planet is it
polite to show up at dinner time and eat the food that had been meant
for the children?
nancy