DEAR MISS MANNERS: When live musicians are performing during the dinner hour at a restaurant, is it rude not to applaud after each number, or should the music simply be considered part of the ambience?

GENTLE READER: The artists will understand if you do not drop your fork every five minutes to stop and applaud. And the servers will appreciate it.

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DEAR MISS MANNERS: I know you’re going to think this is a made-up letter, but I assure you it’s not. (But then, I’d say that even if it were, wouldn’t I?)

When one has been invited to stay overnight in a home without indoor plumbing, but is provided with a chamber pot (no lid) under the bed, what does one do with it the next morning? Leave it? Ask one’s hostess? What if you don’t speak her language?

This happened to my husband and me a f

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