DEAR MISS MANNERS: Please tell me if it is proper to take the complimentary sets of soaps, lotions, shower caps etc. from your hotel room. If you are staying more than one day, can you take them on a daily basis? My husband says no and I say yes.
GENTLE READER: The rule -- back when hotels provided actual bars of soap and actual bottles of shampoo -- was to use only what you required on-site.
Too few people followed the rule, however, which caused the hotels to switch to sample-size products, a euphemism for “microscopic.” As these are intended to be thrown out each time the room changes hands, Miss Manners throws up her hands if you choose to make off with the remaining drops rather than allow them to go to waste. She remains firmly opposed to hiding half-full bottles to force replacement, and to ransacking the supply cart.