She’s my co-worker, so I need an undramatic way to break ties with her.
You have to work with this person. You have discovered that she is not a friend. So treat her only as a co-worker. That means that politeness is required, but not warmth — nor lunch, nor other opportunities to talk it out. “Sorry, I’m busy” is all that is needed.When did “RSVP” cease to mean “Please respond, yes or no” and come to mean “Respond only if your answer is yes”? I receive a lot of e-vites and such, and they all seem to imply this new interpretation of the old phrase.
It feels a little rude not to be offered a gracious way to opt out that doesn’t involve not responding at all.Can we please do away with that form? Apparently nobody understands it — did everyone fail high school French? — and it is now annoyingly used as a noun.Yes, as those of you who did ace high school French will point out, the phrase is actually “respond, if you please,” but the “if” is not supposed to be taken literally.
Miss Manners would think it obvious that it is rude to ignore an invitation. But most people only seem to find that out when they are the hosts. So let’s put it in plain English: “Please respond.” The more formal version is “The favor of a reply is requested.” Notice that Miss Manners does not use the British spelling “favour” — why all the foreign phrases? — nor does she condone “Regrets only.” It is not for the host to presume that a prospective guest would regret skipping the party.I want to thank the U.S. Postal Service for delivering a card addressed to me by my mother, who was severely visually impaired.
This was the last piece of mail I received from Mother before she died, and I am very grateful to those who recognized the love and effort that she put into sending it.So do it — thank your local post office, and perhaps write a letter to the Postmaster General. Miss Manners suspects that they do not get a lot of gratitude from the public.
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