DEAR MISS MANNERS: I was at a party last weekend where there were drinks, a buffet, music and conversation. It was all very pleasant until a few people (not the host or hostess) decided to turn off the music and play videos for the crowd on their phones instead.
The party suddenly became a quiet mass of people huddled around a smartphone. And folks in the other parts of the house could no longer hear the music that had been playing.
The hostess was very gracious but visibly annoyed. I find that this sort of behavior has become more and more common at parties, and I wonder, what is a host or hostess to do when their party is commandeered by funny cat videos?
GENTLE READER? What, indeed?
Miss Manners commends this particular hostess for her patience. If she had been feeling even more generous, she could have offered to display the cat videos on her television or computer for all to see. This would have the effect of making the activity more communal, while drawing attention to the fact that only a few were participating.
But more likely, the difficulty of its technical execution would be time-consuming enough that everyone would get bored with it and resume more social activity.