DEAR MISS MANNERS: I work in a 5-star establishment. On a particular day, a customer became flatulent, which caused us both to be embarrassed. Nobody else was around.
Related Articles Advice | Miss Manners: Our house’s previous owners are seeking visitation rights Advice | Miss Manners: Can I tell my sister her son smells like mildew? Advice | Miss Manners: She says it’s rude of me to tour my neighbors’ houses Advice | Miss Manners: Do we pretend we don’t see a not-fully-dressed neighbor? Advice | Miss Manners: They ignore my rule sign, then storm out when I confront them We had a good rapport prior to this, and when this happened, I said “Oops!” (partly due to surprise and embarrassment). The customer just shrugged his shoulders. I then said, “If that had been me, I would say ‘excuse me.
'” The customer then said, “Sorry, didn’t mean to ruin your day.” I assured him he hadn’t, at which point his friends showed up, and one said to him, “What did you do now ?” They all left. What should I have done? How should I have handled this? What would you have done? GENTLE READER : Ignored it.
You see, Miss Manners also considers herself a 5-star establishment, and it is largely because unless specifically solicited, she does not chastise people in public for their unintended noises. The inadvertent “Oops!” was quite enough. Schooling the gentleman on how he could have handled it better was embarrassing and unnecessary.
Even if he is used to that kind of.