DEAR MISS MANNERS: My neighbor at work files her nails fairly often. It is a truly intolerable noise to me, and I have asked her to refrain. She obliges, but then forgets and starts again.
Is there anything I can do besides repeatedly asking her to stop? I am sometimes reduced to running to the supply closet to look for paper clips I don’t need in order to avoid hounding her on the issue. Does that sound really not bother anyone else?
GENTLE READER: Very likely it does. But for maximum result, Miss Manners suggests that you act as though it is your problem, not your colleague’s: “I am so sorry, but I have extremely sensitive ears. I wonder if you might be able to do that in another room.”
(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)