DEAR MISS MANNERS: We own a home in a fairly nice neighborhood where people take good care of their homes and gardens. Many of our neighbors have housekeepers, gardeners, carpenters, etc.

I occasionally cross paths with these service providers and want to ask them for their business cards, but a voice in my head says I should ask my neighbors first and go through them. Any advice?

GENTLE READER : Yes: Listen to that voice.

Poaching other people’s domestic help is not looked upon kindly. You do not conclude a dinner party by asking to compliment the cook, who has been with the family for three generations, and then offering to double her salary if she will defect.

But Miss Manners may have been thrown off by your “fairly nice neighborhood” remark, which sounds like an understated, ric

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