Mary Killen Mary Killen

Dear Mary… | 14 April 2007

Etiquette advice from The Spectator's Miss Manners

issue 14 April 2007

Q. Please can you advise me? I am a bachelor living on my own and I have my shirts ironed by a very nice lady in the village. She does a great job, but I am getting increasingly annoyed as she leaves my shirts hanging in the kitchen and then proceeds to cook a roast dinner (or similar) before I can pick them up. She is incredibly friendly but very thin-skinned. How can I subtly suggest that she stores them somewhere else so I don’t smell of roast lamb when I wear my clothes? I did think about providing clothes covers but fear this might not have the desired effect, as she might only cover them immediately before I pick them up. Thank you.
R.C., Chester.

A. Next time you enter this village house with your pile of shirts to be ironed, single out a new one from the pile saying it is a present from a friend and ‘apparently it has special care instructions — here they are’.

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