Dear Mary: Before an old boys’ reunion, should I tip people off to an interesting fact?
Q. The problem encountered by R.B. of Fareham (6 June) is similar to one I wish to avoid. I have…
Dear Mary: My husband has shaved his head for a newspaper feature
Q. My partner, a leading political commentator on a national newspaper, recently agreed to shave off his hair at the…
Dear Mary: Should I follow Cilla Black’s lead on disabled loos?
Q. I was at the theatre recently and bumped into a well-known Liverpudlian crooner coming out of the disabled lavatory.…
Dear Mary: Must I be effusive in visitors’ books?
Q. My parents brought me up to write only my name in a visitors’ book. However, following a recent long…
Dear Mary: What to do when an old friend snubs you
Q. What should I say the next time I run into a woman with whom I was at art school…
Dear Mary: What to do when a dinner guest won’t turn and chat
Q. I felt uncomfortable during a dinner for 20 in a private house. The young man on my left had…
Dear Mary, what do you do when you can't read the replies to a wedding invitation?
Q. How can I discipline inconsiderate people who do not reply properly to wedding invitations? I am being driven demented…
Dear Mary: How can I make my shy friend’s generosity plain?
Q. I have a friend who can be shy and inhibited. Recently, he was invited to stay on a Caribbean…
Dear Mary: How to cope with London Library overcrowding
Q. As a writer I find working at home too distracting. I am a longstanding member of the London Library…
Dear Mary: How to buy dinner for high net worth individuals
Q. Six months ago I invited some old friends to be my guests at a reunion dinner. We all love…
Dear Mary: How to give a dinner party and still get an early night
Q. I socialise in Shropshire every weekend and regularly give dinners which end at 2 a.m., but it’s a different matter…
Dear Mary: How can I stop friends calling without warning?
Q. I have moved from London to the centre of a historic market town, now becoming famous as a foodie…
Dear Mary: How can I keep my retiring husband out of the house?
Q. For ten years, I have made a reasonable freelance income working from home. During this time my husband has…
Dear Mary: How I can I avoid being invited to any more country house weekends?
Q. Someone I was at university with but hadn’t seen much of over the ten years since invited me to…
Dear Mary
Q. When sending wedding invitations, does one put the full titles on the card, or can one just put, for…
Dear Mary: What can I do to make couples split the bill fairly?
Q. I’m a single bloke now and for various reasons don’t foresee any change to that status. I have moved…
Dear Mary: When is it all right not to bring something to a dinner party?
Q. A wonderful and generous woman invites me, on a regular basis, to dinner parties at her house. What is…
Dear Mary: I know an interior designer socially, but is it acceptable to ask her advice?
Q. A close friend is dating a renowned decorator. Meanwhile, on a limited budget, I am trying to smarten up…
Dear Mary: How can I lie about my age and still use my Senior Railcard?
Q. I was not brought up in England and don’t appear in Who’s Who. This means that there is no…
Dear Mary: How can I stop my elderly host making the bed?
Q. I have regularly stayed with a hospitable friend in London but now hesitate to invite myself. She is seventy-something…
What do you do about a friend who cannot make a request directly?
Q. I have a friend with multiple sclerosis. She lives alone in the countryside. There is no bus service and,…
Dear Mary: How can I stop my neighbour pacing the ceiling?
Q. The woman who lives above me has insomnia and walks around all night. I’m also disturbed by her rather…
Dear Mary: how can I stop my husband from chopping down all our trees?
Q. My husband — currently unemployed — has started ‘sourcing’ logs from our own smallholding. Chopping down perfectly good trees, sawing logs,…
Dear Mary: How can I stop friends staying after a 21st?
Q. A neighbour is hosting a party for his daughter’s 21st birthday. Adequate provision has been made for anyone who…
Dear Mary: Someone told me their extraordinary life story, but I tuned the whole thing out
Q. After a recent dinner I found myself on a two-seater sofa enjoying the restful company of a woman who…
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