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Elise McVeigh's Manners Camp Column
Dear Mrs. McVeigh,My daughter started a new school this year. What should you do when a child asks your child for a play date, and you have never met the child or the parents before? Anonymous Dear Anonymous,If you know other people at the school, ask other parents if this family is safe, and nice. If you do not know anyone at the school, here are a few other ideas. If this is a young child, ask the mother to meet you in a neutral location, such as the park, or a restaurant, with the kids, for a play date. If it is an older child, call the mother and see if you can meet for coffee or lunch first. You can say something like, “My daughter really likes your daughter, and would love to get together. She thought it would be great if we could meet too.“ The mother will probably be happy to check you out too. Dear Mrs. McVeigh,I was recently at the grocery store and got behind a couple who were in the “15 items or less” line. They had about 40-50 items. I had the appropriate amount of items for the line, and they did not offer to let me cut ahead of them. I ended up confronting them, and it turned into voices being raised, etc… Do you think I was out of line for doing this? (No pun intended.)Anonymous Dear Anonymous,I do not think nicely pointing out that someone is doing something wrong is a bad thing. In this case you were being inconvenienced, and this couple should have at least offered to let you go ahead of them. If you are ever in this situation again, (and perhaps you did this), you can say something like, “Excuse me, did you realize that you are in the 15 item or less line.” If the say yes, and do not budge, you can then feel free to ask them to let you cut ahead. If they do not, unless the cashier steps in, there is not a lot that you can do about it. Some people are just stubborn, and you sometimes have to let things go.
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