DEAR MISS MANNERS: At a social event at my children’s school, I was standing and talking with a parent I know, when another parent I have met before walked up, greeted the parent I was speaking with and continued talking with her without even acknowledging me. I felt very uncomfortable. This is not the first time this has happened. How does one handle a situation like this?
GENTLE READER: By politely intervening on your own behalf. At an appropriate pause in conversation, firmly stick out a hand and say, “I do believe we have already met, but I just wanted to reintroduce myself. There are so many people at these events, it is sometimes hard to keep track.”
Miss Manners suggests that you practice this sentence and gesture to make sure that it has the right amount of firmness -- without seeming petulant or punitive. She is sorry to say that it sounds as if you will have ample opportunity.
(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.)