Mary Killen Mary Killen

Dear Mary | 24 August 2017

Also: eating apples in close confines and why you should always take teabags on to a plane

issue 26 August 2017

Q. I am in my seventies and my husband is in his nineties. The other night we had two couples to dinner. However, when they arrived (separately), we both realised we had forgotten their names, so when I brought the second couple into the drawing room I was incapable of introducing everyone to each other — they were meeting for the first time. This set the evening off to a terrible start, but our memory failure was no reflection of our affection for our guests or of our general brain power. Mary, what would you have done in these circumstances?
— Name and address withheld

A. When the second couple arrived, you could have ushered them into your drawing room but not entered it yourself, so that they were forced to introduce themselves while you eavesdropped at the door in order to refresh your memory.

Q.

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in