Dear Mary: What’s the etiquette of bumping into someone in a doctor’s waiting room?

Q. I own a flat and have rented two rooms out to friends from university. Now they have fallen in love. This means the three of us are often in the kitchen at the same time or watching television together at close quarters. They never stop kissing and cuddling and declaring their love – in front of me. Of course I am happy for them but even if I had my own boyfriend, I would consider PDAs TMI. How can I get them to stop without coming across as bitter? 

– Name and address withheld

A. This phase will probably not last long but you are right – Public Displays of Affection do tend to offer Too Much Information – especially when performed in an intimate domestic setting. Send a shot across the bows using the following method. Pretend you’re looking for a new armchair for the main room of the house and use the opportunity to take photos of where you might ‘want it’ with them in the background snogging on several separate occasions so that when you eventually show them a slideshow of spaces where you might want the chair to be they can see how often they are all over each other.