"I was introduced to the friends of a neighbor, and the question Where do you go to school? came up. I told them, and one of them responded, I'm sorry. He evidently thought himself the soul of wit, but, as I have to look for a job with my degree from this school, I did not find his comment at all amusing. I laughed with him anyway, partially because it was expected, but mostly because I was startled."
"Lately, I find that whenever I schedule even the most mundane of appointments, I am endlessly nagged by correspondence from the host: Please confirm Lady Tuna's rabies booster appointment, or Are you still planning to attend our Needle-Felting Calico Cats class at the library? Such repetitive messages arrive by post, text, email and sometimes even dreaded phone calls at all hours of the day."
A guest was asked where she went to school and received a curt "I'm sorry," which she found insulting because she must seek employment with that degree. She laughed out of politeness and later regretted it. Miss Manners recommends asking "Why?" or genuinely asking what is funny to take the bad joke seriously and prompt the joker to explain, which disarms the joke and embarrasses the joker. Another correspondent reports being hounded by multiple confirmation requests for mundane appointments across post, text, email, and calls, comparing the pestering to overeager dates and describing a polite cancellation tactic.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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