Miss Manners: The bride’s mother sent me a bill. How should I respond?

DEAR MISS MANNERS All the bridesmaids for an upcoming wedding lately received a note from the bride s mother stating that we owe a substantial sum of money to help pay for the bridal shower Related ArticlesJuly Miss Manners Am I the only one who has this kind of restroom encounter July Miss Manners Is there a way to discourage this man s witticism at my expense July Miss Manners My boyfriend berated me in the parking lot over how I exited the church July Miss Manners I gave my neighbor treats and got a rude phone call in return July Miss Manners She threatened to call the cops on me in church The shower has ballooned in size and scope to rival particular weddings I ve attended in the past so I am not surprised it is proving to be expensive But I had no input as to how big this shower has become and being required no recounted to pay for it strikes me as inappropriate Am I wrong I have no idea how to respond How should I reply GENTLE READER All of you should respond by asking the bride s mother to give her daughter your love along with your profound regrets that you are unable to serve as bridesmaids after all having been unaware of the cost Bridesmaids are supposedly chosen because they are the dearest people to the bride Why then are they considered exploitable for both labor and money This calls for a strike DEAR MISS MANNERS The neighbor who lives directly across the street from me parks in front of my house If this was occasional I wouldn t care but it s become the daily routine I can t imagine consistently doing this I enjoy looking out my window in the evening but now my view is a car every night The present day a work truck parked in front of my house so the neighbor parked in their own driveway which is constantly clear as is their curb When the truck left they moved their car back to my curb leaving their driveway empty the rest of the day I realize this could sound petty but our other neighbors respect this unwritten rule GENTLE READER In addition to unwritten the rule is possibly unknown to this neighbor Miss Manners trusts that you don t think the car is purposely parked with the intention of blocking your view and that you realize that others have a legal right to park on a inhabitants street Therefore the neighbor would be doing you a favor by refraining from parking there And to ask a favor requires purging any annoyance you feel and admitting that complying would be a voluntary kindness An amusing confession of your staring-out-the-window habit would be more effective than an admonishment for violating neighborhood expectations DEAR MISS MANNERS Suppose Miss Jones marries Mr Smith and decides for whatever reason to retain her maiden name She is still deserving of the married honorific is she not Is Mr Smith and Mrs Jones therefore the proper form to put on an envelope to be followed by street address city and state GENTLE READER Deserving Deserving Miss Manners chooses to believe that you only made an unfortunate word choice not that you believe that it is an honor for a lady to be married and that the title Mrs reflects that Related ArticlesJuly Dear Abby I got this new shirt and now women won t leave me alone July Asking Eric Part of my family was snubbed Should I go to the party anyway July Dear Abby Their kids and the baby are ruining our bar time July Asking Eric How do I fix this neighbor difficulty without coming off as a Karen July Harriette Cole My co-workers don t know this secret about our horrible boss But then why do you not accept the fact that this dilemma was solved with the th-century revival of the th-century title Ms It is an abbreviation of the honorific Mistress which was the respectable equivalent of Mister to be used regardless of marital status Ms long predates the more restrictive abbreviations Mrs and Miss So it is Ms Jones and Mr Smith Also you forgot the ZIP code Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website www missmanners com to her email gentlereader missmanners com or through postal mail to Miss Manners Andrews McMeel Syndication Walnut St Kansas City MO