DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have hired a cleaning woman, and she needs money to save for a newer automobile. She has no family in town, so I’m thinking about asking her to work on Thanksgiving by serving us and cleaning up at the family dinner.

She has opened up to me about very private details of her life, so I feel like I know her on a more personal level. How do I treat her at the dinner? I’m not sure the family would like to have a stranger at the table, and I would feel a bit guilty having her sit by herself to eat elsewhere at Thanksgiving.

How do I help her by providing employment without making her feel somehow inferior or lonely?

GENTLE READER: By giving her extra pay for working on a holiday.

Perhaps you will think it callous of Miss Manners not to invoke the Thanksgiving legend o

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