DEAR MISS MANNERS: I would like to know if it is considered rude to say please and thank you simultaneously.
GENTLE READER: “Please” and “thank you” are used to going out arm-in-arm, so an occasional, accidental collision may occur. Pushing them both down the stairs in an exasperated tone that makes clear the intention was to express frustration is less charming, though not, surprisingly, impolite. Miss Manners prefers it to more explicit declarations of annoyance.
(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)