DEAR MISS MANNERS: I would appreciate your advice on the appropriate etiquette for flowers or gifts that are received from an anonymous sender. Should one attempt to identify the sender so that appropriate thanks can be expressed?
GENTLE READER: While a thank-you letter cannot reasonably be expected in response to an anonymous gesture, one should attempt to identify the sender for another reason:
One is dying from curiosity.
Mind you, Miss Manners has never considered curiosity an excuse for running around asking embarrassing questions, and any inquiries you make will embarrass anyone who thinks -- or who thinks you think -- that he ought to have made such a gesture. But she promises that if you start shooting bashful little smiles at the likely candidates, one of them will confess. And one or two more may head for the flower shop.
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