European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 5, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                _ Page 10odds amp ends a miss manners Judith Martin dear miss manners at a dinner party a Friend of mine said she had a Boyfriend and that her live in Roommate was fair game. I expressed my attraction for the Roommate and my Friend acted upset. Under the circumstances  one assume her Roommate is free to Date gentle Reader where romantic proclivities arc concerned miss manners  assume anything about anyone these Days. And High among the things she  assume Are that people know whether those with whom they live consider themselves available. The most she Hopes is that people know How to speak for themselves. You should have asked the Roommate he she or it should have known whether it was interested in you. Whether that person is deeply and faithfully attached to your Friend or just living with her is something you still do not know. Dear miss manners after we eat dinner with a couple of friends in their Home we sit at the table and visit for what seems like Ages. Whose place is it to suggest we leave the table for More comfortable chairs a the guests or the hosts gentle Reader what do you mean More comfortable chairs guests done to sit in uncomfortable chairs they love being wherever they arc which is where they remain until they Are invited to move elsewhere. Miss manners understands that hosts sometimes neglect to suggest this. As one is not sup posed to leave a dinner party directly from the table she once thought she was condemned to spending the night sitting at the table of some otherwise thoughtful people who neglected to suggest going to the other room. Sheer survival May prompt a polite guest to leave in such circumstances rather than keel Over with exhaustion into the dessert plate. Guests May squirm but they cannot attempt to take Over the mostly function of directing the party. Dear miss manners docs etiquette obligate one to Wear his or her wedding ring in a social situation perhaps a better question would be is one obligated to make ones marital status Clear to others my single friends and i appreciate the wearing of rings since they serve the purpose of quietly setting boundaries for any new ratio ship. But we notice that Many married people leave their rings at Home. Gentle Reader it is not that miss manners docs not understand your plight and want to protect you. But etiquette is just a lot less interested in rings than people seem to think. Contrary to popular opinion it docs not demand that a ring be Given before it will recognize a proper engagement. It has taken no notice of the fact that Many Young ladies no longer Reserve the left hand for rings symbolizing romantic Bonds considering that hand available for any decorative rings they May happen to fancy. It  dream of telling widows and widowers that they have to move or remove their rings. And it had never required married people to have rings. It certainly cannot spot Check to make sure they Are worn. Even if etiquette declared a truth in packaging Rule requiring ineligible people to be banded to prevent them from fooling the single it would be helpless to enforce this when deceit is intended. This is Why it has always endorsed the method of getting to know people before pinning ones Hopes on them. Perhaps that is the etiquette Rule that will Best protect you. United feature synodical horoscopes Capricorn Pec 21-Jan, 19 enjoy this period of objective Success get out and promote yourself. The personal approach works Best aquarius Jan 20-feb. 18 in business review the rules of the game before playing. Friends will Tell you something different. Watch the Sharks. Pisces feb. 19-March 20 Deal with disturbances in a Calm and logical manner. You can escape through the door marked love. Aries March 21-april 19 your insecurities May result in jealousy and possessiveness in a relationship. Do not manipulate your partner with love Taurus april 20-May 20 problem solving requires intense focus. Gather your thoughts and feelings to get the Job done. Gemini May 21-june 20 Don t turn away from dissension among co workers. Play the peacemaker and promote Harmony through understanding. Cancer june 21-july 22 you la meet someone with whom you la feel a Strong karmic attraction. See it As a learning Opportunity. Leo july 23-aug. 22 dig for the facts to alleviate your suspicions on an investment. Use your intuitive economic indicators. Virgo aug. 23-sept. 22 Confidence abounds. Play your cards right and you can t lose. You get family support you need. Libra sept 23-oct. 22 As the most talkative in the group it is important that you have something profound to discuss. Choose Money or love. Scorpio oct. 23-nov. 21 a Large unexpected expenditure throws a wrench in your budget. Be prepared. Start saving now. Sagittarius nov. 22-dec. 20 a behind the scenes affair intensifies. Exercise control Over those fatalistic subconscious impulses. Copley news  goes from bad to Wurst in extremes Cindy Chambers i was filing a piece of Metal with some european toilet paper the other Day when something one of my husbands College buddies used to say came Rushing Back to me. A Germany a he would intone after six or seven Beers a is a land of  students majoring in German arc prone to making strange statements like this As Well As to drinking to excess because they know  be unemployed after graduation. It makes them in a word weird. But even if the Guy chose the wrong major he was right about one thing Germany is a land of extremes. For example Only the germans would develop the concept of the vol Smarch a a cardiovascular extravaganza guaranteed to bum off at least 4,000 calories a and follow it up with a 250,000-calorie meal at the finish line. Only in Germany can you find the worlds most sophisticated recycling system a space age bins with receptacles for everything from buttons to used shellfish a and right next to them workmen sweeping the sidewalks with prehistoric brooms made of twigs. They eat standing up and carry Flowers upside Down. They like their sandwiches cold and their Beer lukewarm. They pay thousands of dollars learning to drive responsibly and then set out to have their licences revoked by driving like 4-year-Olds. Then there a the category i Call a the Best and the Wurst a which involves the kind of sweeping generalizations that spark International incidents or worse an endless flood of irate letters to the editor. For instance is it just me or do the germans really make the Best French Fries and the worst potato chips in the world and done to you find it paradoxical that German shopkeepers will Greet you with the utmost politeness while customers in the same store will cheerily trample you to death if you get in their Way and Why is it that every time i plug in a marvelous High tech German appliance i get a marvelous High tech German Shock finally there Are German windows which fun Turi stoically defy the Laws of physics not to mention Gravity by opening from the top the Bottom and the Middle a simultaneously. This is a great Benefit to giant blood sucking insects who know that inexplicably German technologists have yet to invent the screen. Now that in be gotten All this off my Chest i guess its time to get Back to compiling my list of things that the . Could learn from the land of extremes. So far in Mon volume 48. Cindy Chambers is a military family member in Schweinhart Germany a sunday january 5. 1992