DEAR MISS MANNERS: At a dinner event I attended at a hotel, the tables were 10-foot rounds with tablecloths that went to the floor. The dinner was buffet style, but we were all wearing semi-formal attire.

The woman sitting next to me pulled the tablecloth up from the floor and set it on her lap, proudly saying that she wasn’t going to get any food on her gown. If she hadn’t made this announcement, I likely wouldn’t have noticed she did this. The tablecloth was black, as were our napkins.

Would Miss Manners provide guidance on this practice?

GENTLE READER: George Washington already did! General Washington, as he correctly wished to be called after his presidency, was a master etiquetteer. It was he who issued the first rules of American protocol, so that it would be dignified without a

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