As long as the tattoos aren’t actively offensive and employers agree, Miss Manners doesn’t get involved. Consider tattoos a chance to see for yourself that this generation loves their mothers — and their butterflies.
Dear Miss Manners: Many times throughout my life, I have been approached in public places by strange men who asked me to know my height.
Without waiting for a response, they say something like, “You must be at least 6 feet tall, because I’m 5 feet 10 inches tall.” » These men are invariably much smaller than their stated height, which further adds to the discomfort of the situation.
This has happened several times, in an almost identical way each time, and I’m just as baffled by a response in my 40s as I was in my teens. How would Miss Manners suggest I respond?
“5 feet 10 inches, you say? Weird. Me too.”
Dear Miss Manners: I recently purchased a fairly expensive set of patio furniture (sofa and chairs), which I use frequently. The problem is that there are always cat hairs all over the furniture.
I don’t own a cat because I’m severely allergic and I can’t have cat hair near me without taking allergy medication (which only alleviates the symptoms, not eliminates them). My children are just as allergic.
I saw my neighbors’ white cat in my (completely fenced) garden every day, which is good, since I never had to touch it, and it generally stays on the outskirts. This is the only cat I have seen in my garden.
Against my better judgment, I tried cleaning the furniture with a roller brush, but the cat hair wouldn’t come off. I can’t use my vacuum cleaner because then there would be cat hairs inside and I would have to get rid of them.
Maybe I should throw out my furniture at this rate. To what extent are my neighbors responsible for this problem? And if they are responsible, how can we talk about it without offending them?
I just want to use my deck. I have hives as I write this.
So many people use allergies as an excuse to avoid animals (and food) they don’t like and Miss Manners thinks you’d jump at the chance to use them legitimately:
“I wonder if there’s a way to keep Snowball out of our yard.” Unfortunately, my family has severe allergies and it has clung to our furniture. We have a really hard time getting rid of hair, if you have any advice.
At this point, good neighbors would take care to check on their pets and offer to clean – or replace – your furniture.
New Miss Manners columns are published Monday to Saturday on washingtonpost.com/advice. You can send questions to Miss Manners on her website, missmanners.com. You can also follow her @RealMissManners.
