Outside early? Just be decently covered
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I live in a city, and my house is closely surrounded by tall buildings. In the mornings, I often briefly go out to the fenced back garden to perform tasks such as feeding the birds or toting recyclables to the bin.
I am often not yet dressed for public presentation, but rather am wearing casual loungewear that I would never wear on the street. Neighbors in upper floors could easily observe me. My assumption has been that my garden is private, and that those peering in should be prepared for the shmatte. Is it your opinion that I may continue my ways without offending?
GENTLE READER: The old rule, which Miss Manners probably invented, was called Newspaper on the Porch. It meant that you could dash out in your bathrobe and grab the paper without being seen. Well, you might actually be seen, but observers were required to dismiss the image from their brains.
Now that people can read the paper online without exposing themselves, Miss Manners will transfer the rule to your situation. As long as you are decently covered, polite neighbors are required not to register in their minds any glimpse they may have of you. They should therefore not greet you with, “I see you had a lot of trash this week. Nice jammies, though.” If they do, the response should be a puzzled, “I beg your pardon?”
DEAR MISS MANNERS:
If COVID-19 is under control in 2022, my daughter, my granddaughter and I are planning a visit to Scotland, Ireland, Wales, the Isle of Man and Lisbon. We are planning on attending a high tea at Edinburgh Castle. What does one wear to a high tea?
GENTLE READER: You may have been misled by the constant misuse of “high tea” by American hotels, which focus on the adjective, thinking it refers to “high society.”
In fact, it is the opposite. High society — a term that, when coined, meant “people who wouldn’t dream of working for a living because they didn’t have to” — developed “afternoon tea.”
This ritual consisted of dainty sandwiches, scones and sweets to quiet their stomach rumblings between meals.
In contrast, high tea is a full meal: supper for workers who go to bed early in order to be at work the next morning, or for children who are banished before the adult fun starts. Therefore, high tea includes meat and other hot foods.
Dress and comportment are the same as for any daytime meal in a nice place.