I respond in a cordial, or at least a civil, way to friends and neighbors who ask me questions about my garden while I am ...

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am lucky enough to have gardens all around my house, including along a city sidewalk. My problem is how ...

GENTLE READER: While she agrees that neither pretending not to hear nor running and hiding are good solutions, Miss Manners ...

On occasion, it will start raining when I am in a crowd — at the ballpark, for example, or waiting for the light to change on ...

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am lucky enough to have gardens all around my house, including along a city sidewalk. My problem is how ...

GENTLE READER: Are you hoping that Miss Manners will say it is fine that your umbrella is channeling additional water onto ...

A well-prepared reader gets chastised for opening her umbrella in a crowd; a gardener thinks it’s rude when passersby ...

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am lucky enough to have gardens all around my house, including along a city sidewalk. My problem is how ...

If absolutely stuck next to them, you could open your umbrella just enough to make a small tent over your head, in which case ...

This time of year, it often rains in the afternoon, and so I carry an umbrella with me. However, many people do not. GENTLE READER: Are you hoping that Miss Manners will say it is fine that your ...

I have made clear for months that they have overstayed their welcome, but they argue with me and take no steps to get on their feet.

If I open my umbrella, then the rain that hits it falls onto the people next to me, most of whom do not have umbrellas.