DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have a chronic knee problem that causes me to walk slowly -- not a standstill, but slow enough that when in a group, I am always left behind. I catch up when I can. It embarrasses me to be so obvious. What can I or should I say when I am left in the dust?
GENTLE READER: “Wait up, folks”?
Of course, they then forget and it happens all over again.
Miss Manners, whose dainty stature (she’s short) puts her in this position, has found it effective to wait until the others notice that she is missing -- perhaps they have even been talking to her, eyes straight ahead, and eventually wonder why she doesn’t answer.
(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.)