There Is No Etiquette Rule That Decrees

Screening Telephone Calls With A Receptionist Or The Humbler Answering Machine Is Not A Dishonorable Thing To Do. The Warmest People In The World Still Need Uninterrupted Time To Attend To Their Lives And Should Not Be Outwitted If They Have Made It Obvious That They Are Not Always Available Upon Summons.

It Is Not Rude To Turn Off Your Telephone By Switching It On To An Answering Machine, Which Is Cheaper And Less Disruptive Than Ripping It Out Of The Wall. Those Who Are Offended Because They Cannot Always Get Through When They Seek, At Their Own Convenience, To Barge In On People Are Suffering From A Rude Expectation.

Visiting The Sick Is Supposed To Exhibit Such Great Virtue That There Are Some People Determined To Do It Whether The Sick Like It Or Not. ... All Visitors Everywhere Are Supposed To Make Plans To Depart If They Observe Their Hosts Visibly Wilting Or In Pain, But This Is Especially True At Hospitals.

Indeed, Miss Manners Has Come To Believe That The Basic Political Division In This Country Is Not Between Liberals And Conservatives But Between Those Who Believe That They Should Have A Say In The Love Lives Of Strangers And Those Who Do Not.

You Think Death Is Any Better An Excuse For Desertion Than Any Other?