Category: Manners Matter
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Manners Matter: Keeping Bridal Showers Under Budget
Dear Mary Pat, My high school friend is getting married this summer and we’ve always been very close. I’m throwing a shower for her next month and I’m trying really hard to keep it on budget. Apart from the three other weddings that I have to attend this summer, I’m also in the middle of […]
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Manners Matter: Work Complaints on Facebook
Dear Mary Pat, My employee vents about her work frustrations on her Facebook wall and it’s getting to be an issue. We deal with the public and that can be a challenge sometimes. Ninety-nine percent of the people are great, but there’s always one percent that can push every single one of your buttons. Given […]
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Mary Pat: Micromanaging a College Student
Dear Mary Pat, My son has been home from his first year of college and we have already had several minor battles about his independence and our rules. On his second night home, he came in at 1:30 am and woke us up when the dog started barking. Over breakfast, I told him that we […]
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Manners Matter: Bachelorette Party Antics
Dear Mary Pat, My best friend is getting married in a month and we are having her bachelorette party down in Milwaukee next weekend. Some of her high school friends are planning it and everything is supposed to be a surprise for the bride. I don’t know her high school friends that well, but they emailed […]
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Manners Matter: Grandparenting 101
Dear Mary Pat, My daughter is upset with me and my husband. We drove our grandson to baseball practice and took him for ice cream afterwards. We were still in the driveway after dropping him off when my daughter came flying out of the house and really let us have it for giving him ice […]
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Manners Matter: Work vs. Family
Dear Mary Pat, This is always a very busy, and admittedly challenging, time of year for us. We own a seasonal business that opens in May. Between cleaning the building, stocking the restaurant, and running on a skeletal crew until our summer help arrives in full force, we work very long days without any sort […]
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Manners Matter: Navigating Tips
Dear Mary Pat, I know that you write about tipping sometimes and that tips can range all over the board. However, I received a tip a couple of weeks ago that has me baffled. I clean cottages for a friend of mine and get paid very well for it. I will receive a tip every […]
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Manners Matter: Dealing with Expectations
Dear Mary Pat, My niece makes her First Holy Communion this month and my sister just called to say that she is hoping/expecting that I will pay for the dress and the party since I am her Godmother. I know that things are lean right now for my sister since her husband is out of […]
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Manners Matter: Texting & Driving
Dear Mary Pat, While at stoplights during my commute to work everyday, I regularly notice other drivers texting. It doesn’t stop when the light turns green. This is bothering me more and more, but as they are oblivious to the world around them (and therefore, the bewildered look on my face as I stare at […]
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Manners Matter: Service with a Smile
Dear Mary Pat, I recently had a very bad experience with a server at what shall remain an unnamed local dining establishment. Our food was great – delicious, in fact – but our waitress was less than friendly. This time of year, when it’s pretty slow, shouldn’t servers be happy to have any tables at […]
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Manners Matter: Fashion Forward
Dear Miss Manners, Styles are changing all the time and I am now accustomed to grown men wearing short pants to church on Sunday and to anniversary dinners at upscale restaurants that begin at 8 pm. I can’t accept the practice of men wearing grimy baseball caps at any occasion and I suspect that some […]
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Manners Matter: Moving Forward
Dear Mary Pat, My wife and I moved to Door County in the mid 1990s. Though my wife passed away in 2001, I still live in Door County and have been single ever since. After my wife died, friends and family suggested I clean the house out of her things as soon as possible. […]
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Dear Mary Pat, I’ve been invited to seven weddings this year between family and friends. Since I own a business up here, it is really hard for me to get away in the season. Four of the seven are destination weddings and three are closer to home. These are all people that are close to […]
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Manners Matter: All Things Irish
Dear Readers, Since St. Patrick’s Day is a week away, here are a few tips to help elevate amateurs to experts of all things Irish…or at least some things Irish: Don’t confuse the shamrock (very Irish symbol and one used by St. Patrick to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish) with four-leaf clovers (commonly […]
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Manners Matter: Neighborly Conduct
Dear Mary Pat, My neighbor is always borrowing things from us and usually forgets to bring things back. Sometimes it’s something like a couple of eggs, and that’s no big deal. I don’t expect him to replace them, but when it’s for something that I need – like my snowblower or rake or chainsaw, I […]
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Manners Matter: Qualms with Customer Service
Dear Mary Pat, Lately, several businesses have instructed their employees to ask: “Did you find everything OK?” as you approach the cash register. Usually my answer is no because I gave up looking in the aisles for anyone to ask, but which I usually don’t say because at that point I’m leaving the store anyway […]
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Manners Matter: Valentine’s Day Slip-up
Dear Mary Pat, I screwed up and my wife is really mad at me. I spaced that it was Valentine’s Day and she is still upset. I normally try to plan a little getaway or something special for my wife. This year, I’ve been so wrapped up in a big project at work and I […]
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Manners Matter: Braving Winter Weather
Dear Mary Pat, I’m not a fan of winter. For the past 24 years Wisconsin has been my home but I have never adapted to the cold or the snow. My husband shakes his head at his “crazy Southern gal” when I start shivering when the temp drops below 50 degrees. Now that we are […]
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Manners Matter: Respect the RSVP
Dear Mary Pat, What is with people and their lack of respect for RSVPs? Last week, I hosted a party for my daughter. I sent out invitations three weeks ahead of time to the few people we were having over and all marked “yes” on the invitation. I sent them all a quick note the […]
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Manners Matter: Loose Lips Sink Ships
Dear Mary Pat, I have an acquaintance who regularly voices her assumptions about other people’s life choices. Consequently, these assumptions are taken as fact and find their way into the local rumor mill where they put the unsuspecting victim(s) in the awkward position of explaining that no, they are not pregnant/having an affair/moving/getting divorced/changing jobs. […]