DEAR MISS MANNERS: My wife and I were invited to two Super Bowl parties on the same night. She accepted both.
I think we should have politely declined the second invitation with, "So sorry, but we have a previous commitment." Beyond the fact that we will be running from one end of town to the other, I think it is rude to go to one party for an hour and then leave. But my wife disagrees.
GENTLE READER: When will you leave the first party -- during the game, so that the host has to get up and see you out? Before the game, so it seems as if something is wrong? After the game, so that you miss the socializing?
Oh, at halftime. Which will interrupt the people who are watching that.
Miss Manners reminds your wife of what many people seem to have forgotten: that invitations should be promptly accepted or declined, and bargaining over the terms is not allowed.