DEAR MISS MANNERS: I was out with a lady friend of mine when my nose started to run. I pulled out my handkerchief and blew my nose. She then told me that it is rude to do so at the table.
This is the first time in my 59 years of living that I ever heard such a thing. Is she right? I would not ever mean to be rude.
GENTLE READER: And you have doubts about how polite it would be to sit there letting your nose drip?
Miss Manners receives lots of complaints about nose-blowing, but such denunciations are never accompanied by alternative suggestions.
It is true that if there is a serious nasal problem, the offender might be better off home in bed. But for lesser problems, even if they are chronic, it is not so easy to keep leaving the table.
She presumes that it is when the blowing is accompanied by unattractive honking that it offends. Perhaps you can learn to blow discreetly and quietly, unless the situation is indeed serious enough to make you leave the table.
But unpleasant noises that have no place at the table include accusations of rudeness lobbed at one’s fellow diners.