DEAR ABBY: I am the owner of an art gallery and often host shows with a reception to introduce artists. This generates interest in their artworks among patrons purchasing a piece for their home or to add to their collection. We provide hors d'oeuvres and beverages for our clients and potential clients.
Several individuals come to our receptions and heap food on their plates, often filling them a second time and sometimes a third. One woman has carried food out, saying it was for her husband who was waiting outside. (He must have been hiding, because I watched her get into her car alone and drive off.)
Abby, these people rarely even look at the art, let alone buy anything. They just eat and leave. My gallery is in a fairly small community, so I don't want to be rude, but how can I tactfully tell these people to ease on down the road? -- NOT RUNNING A SOUP KITCHEN
DEAR NOT: Have an employee monitor the food display, and when someone is spotted taking food outside or pigging out, have the employee quietly intervene. As for individuals who come to your gallery only to eat -- and by now you know who they are -- greet them politely and suggest quietly that because it is clear that your taste in art and theirs is not the same, it would be better if they shopped elsewhere.
P.S. And if attendance to these openings is by invitation, simply stop inviting the offenders.