European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 26, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Miss m los Judith Martin dear miss manners through my profession i Deal with parents from a vast Range of lifestyles. What is the proper comment to make when a Mother casually mentions that she will be spending the next couple of months in jail does one offer cheerful congratulations Heartfelt condolences Praise for the attractive License plates made these Days admiration of the Lovely pastel Orange uniforms being worn in our institutions or simply encouragement to hang in there gentle Reader this is All very amusing but miss manners wonders if it has occurred to you to make the comment that you would be glad to be of service to the children during the sentence. If your profession requires you to Deal with parents miss manners assumes it is because you have some interest in the welfare of children. This would be an excellent time to show it. Dear miss manners i was invited to an alumni meeting that purported to a evaluate availability of future financial resources for my University. I was Given a medium fancy lunch and provided with a computer printout of names of All the students and friends i might have known in my College years. A videotape of the University was shown and then som Cunt i can Only describe As a a sales Type Quot took Over and began explaining the procedure. At first i could not believe what i was hearing but she described ways of assessing an individuals net Worth. It turned out that the group was to rate each alumnus on the list on a Dollar value potential for donations to the University i realized that i was being asked to violate the privacy and degrade the Trust of classmates and friends. I made apologies to my neighbors at the table and walked out leaving a a this is disgusting a note on my folder. The idea offended me to the Bottom of my soul. I have written to the Leader of the group and the University Board of trustees expressing my outrage a and sending a Check to cover luncheon costs. Am i naive a or is giving information guesses about friends and classmates financial status to a fund raising Effort an accepted practice nowadays is this or is it not a hideous trespass upon traditional decency and Courtesy gentle Reader it is indeed. Miss manners too has Long been offended to the Bottom of her Sou by such tactics. Bullying and embarrassing people to donate Money by trading on knowledge of their private finances is she regrets to say the routine Way in which funds Are raised for nearly All endeavours. Protests bring on the even More outrageous assertion that the worthiness of the cause gives people dispensation to toss aside the privacy of individuals and the loyalties of Friendship. Miss manners had a valuable lesson in this when she donated a handsome sum anonymously to a favorite cause and then endured shameless attempts to shame her by people who were by her wish excluded from knowledge of such a private decision. She was torn Between wanting to quit the interests of the cause altogether and making an Anonymous donation so that it would serve As a shelter for any other badgered targets. However she prefers not to penalize a Good cause just because vulgar people support it. Your action is much More impressive and miss manners deeply wishes that it will encourage people to go about their Charity work in a More charitable spirit. Dear miss manners i was born interested in everything and everybody. It is fun to learn about whatever there is. As a result in be had a very Busy and full life and still have a list of things i want to do. The problem is i come across As conceited or too proud of myself. This is not True a i just present myself As is. I know and can do a lot of things. Should i just play dumb and uninterested gentle Reader wait just a minute Here. It is extremely rare to be considered Boring and Nosy at the same time one either keeps poking into other Peoples business or talking non Stop about ones own. Which is it miss manners suggests that you avoid both. A charming person is indeed one who is a interested in everything and everybody a without violating the Bounds of privacy. But your coming across As a conceited Quot suggests that you arc perhaps emphasizing your knowledge rather than furthering it which docs not serve your stated purpose of learning any More than it charms others. United feature Syndicate Morosc Oris Taurus april 20-May 20 review your travel plans Check to make sure you have Correct information before departing gemini May 21-june 20 Don t be misled by friends into an undesirable relationship. Judge for yourself cancer june 21-july 22 be patient with your spouse or partner. Leo july 23-aug. 22 this week put More Energy into getting in shape for the season. Spring has sprung. Virgo aug. 23-sept, 22 there Are a lot of financial decisions in question. Take a Chance on an unusual investment. Libra sept. 23-oct. 22. Your Home life is very important at this time. Take care to keep it secure. Scorpio oct 23-nov. 21. Feeling restless will Only cause you to blow a fuse. Coat your nerves with patience. Sagittarius nov. 22-dec. 20 you Are up for lessons in tolerance and cooperation. Getting along with others should be easy. Capricorn dec. 21-Jan. 19 take time out for some enjoyment. It is of to be a Little self indulgent. Aquarius Jan 20-feb. 18 your self undoing could be your failure to recognize the truth. Open your eyes. Pisces feb 19-March 20 take a step Back and look within. You operate Best from your spiritual Center. Aries March 21-april 19 option too Good to be True will Spur you into action. Watch out. Copley news service simply living in America is hard work every time i read a Story where the japanese accuse americans of being Lazy i go nuts. In a reminded of the Reader who wrote that she was planning a Brunch for 10, Yelling at her teen age son to be sure and lock the front door and biting off a Hangnail a at the same time she was making love to her husband. We Are All tap dancing As fast As we can. Americans never do one thing at a time. We listen to the news As we exercise eat lunch at our desk and get eyeglasses made within an hour. Instant communication is our constant companion. We Are Only one step away from phone implants fax machines have made the transition from boardroom to bedroom. There Are a lot of things that would justify Eagle bashing but being soft on the work ethic is not one of them. Americans Are driven by the need to succeed. One of the first things we do when we Are felled by a virus is to crawl into the office and cough All Over everyone there thus spreading misery through the entire building. We attack Leisure like flies going after Sticky buns. The football and Tennis seasons run into the basketball and hockey seasons which overlap with the opening Day of baseball and the Golf circuit. Men watch one game listen to another Over headphones and read the scores of All the others flashed on a Board in the stadium. Even the athletes could retire if they wanted but no they use their injuries in their Twilight years to sell headache remedies and Suprin on television part of the problem of assigning work hours to americans is interpreting what is work and what is considered  work to the japanese is the time spent in a factory somewhere. The 65-hour week racked up by american women who run a Home and raise a family is not considered  if housework is so much fun then How come designer Vera Wang does no to dress us in cute skating costumes and enter us in an olympic Competition with an electric Broom and Dustbuster if our children Aren t Lucky enough to do diaper commercials or get residuals from family sitcoms they graduate from College heavily in debt. We give a hot dog 90 seconds to Cook a pizza 30 minutes to be delivered to our door and a nasal Spray 10 seconds to Clear our Heads. If japanese parliamentary Leader Yoshio Sakurauchi wants to present a rebuttal to All of this i can give him two minutes a tops. Then i have to get Back to work. Universal press Syndicate no kidding it 7 who were on a the dating game 1. Michael Jackson 1972 2. Tom Selleck 1967 3. Joe Namath 1968 4. Jerry Mathers 1966 5. Burt Reynolds 1967 6. Arnold Schwarzenegger 1973 7. Groucho Marx 1967 source the encyclopedia or to game shows 10 a sunday april 26, 1992