DEAR MISS MANNERS: A friend of mine dropped a bag of her used clothing at my house while I was away at work. She did not ask first. I received a text message from her after she dropped it off, letting me know.
I was shocked. I had just decluttered my home and had never told her I liked those outfits. I told her they were not for me, and asked her if she wanted to pick them back up. She acted strange and offended. Shouldn’t she have asked first before just dropping her used clothes off at my house?
GENTLE READER: If your goal is to dispose of the clothing without also disposing of the friend, then the proper response is to thank her, but say you unfortunately cannot use the clothes. This will require you to then offer a choice of returning them or donating them, but Miss Manners does not set an absolute deadline for completing either.