DEAR MISS MANNERS: A friend of mine told me that her 19-year-old daughter had received a gift (on no special occasion) of a Tiffany necklace and pendant from a man she had been dating for two months.
My immediate reaction is that my mother would have made me return such a gift as inappropriate. My friend doesn’t see this as a problem, and I can’t find anyone else who understands my mother’s rule on the subject. Is it outdated now?
GENTLE READER: Speaking of outdated -- is it possible, in the light of recent public revelations, that the mother of a teenager believes that there are no strings attached to such a present?
Of course, she should have known anyway. But Miss Manners presumes that the “outdating” that you suggest refers to the naive belief that all relations between the genders should be carefree, and that power -- in this case in the form of money -- is not a factor. Surely that has been dispelled.