{"id":91,"date":"2026-05-21T08:37:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T08:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=91"},"modified":"2026-05-21T08:37:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T08:37:19","slug":"miss-manners-they-were-making-out-in-the-restaurant-and-we-couldnt-look-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=91","title":{"rendered":"Miss Manners: They were making out in the restaurant, and we couldn’t look away"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

DEAR MISS MANNERS<\/strong>: Six of us were at dinner in a nice restaurant. At a nearby table for two sat a man and a woman, who appeared to be grownups, rather than teenagers in their first relationships.<\/p>\n

Read more Dear Abby: I wish my boss had let me know he wasn\u2019t dead<\/a><\/p>\n

During this couple\u2019s nice dinner out, their mutual attraction apparently got the better of them. The man had his hand completely<\/em> up the woman\u2019s skirt and she had her hand inside<\/em> his shirt. There was activity during the entire course of our meal.<\/p>\n

Half of the people at our round table had a constant, full view of the goings-on and were repulsed and distracted, while the other half of our table was extremely curious about what was so distracting to our tablemates. We left as soon as we had finished dinner.<\/p>\n

What is the appropriate thing to do in this case? Do you tell the manager that this activity is not restaurant-appropriate? Or do you comment over your shoulder and suggest that they \u201cget a room\u201d?<\/p>\n

We did nothing but leave, feeling like our enjoyable evening had been cut short by their amorous behavior.<\/p>\n

GENTLE READER<\/strong>: If you are going to say anything, then Miss Manners presumes you would prefer one of three resolutions: making the couple stop, embarrassing the couple, or embarrassing the restaurant manager if they cannot effect one of the previous two outcomes.<\/p>\n

She mentions this because looking silly and ineffectual yourself do not make the list, though they are the most likely outcome of telling the couple to get a room or having to explain what you mean by restaurant-appropriate when the manager arrives to investigate.<\/p>\n

If you are unwilling to simply look the other way, she suggests asking if you can be moved to another table, even though you are halfway through your meal.<\/p>\n

Read more Driver dead after truck ends up underwater in Richmond<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

This request will scandalize the restaurant manager far more than one customer having his hand up another customer\u2019s skirt. They will be unwilling \u2014 and possibly unable \u2014 to comply, but they will know you are serious. They will therefore have to either speak with the couple or in some way try to make the rest of your meal more palatable.<\/p>\n

DEAR MISS MANNERS<\/strong>: When I am given a compliment, I always say \u201cthank you,\u201d but I am not sure how to respond when others say kind things to me about my child.<\/p>\n

I feel more grateful for kind comments about him than those about me, but it feels odd to treat the compliment as though I can take credit for it by saying \u201cthank you.\u201d Agreement feels like bragging. Help?<\/p>\n

GENTLE READER<\/strong>: It is not bragging because you are responding to what someone else said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

But also, what else can you do? Disagree? If it helps, Miss Manners recommends thinking of the times when you have, or will, have to accept responsibility for junior\u2019s misdeeds.<\/p>\n

Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, gentlereader@missmanners.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 30, Thunder top Spurs 122-113 in Game 2 of West finals<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Miss Manners: Should we have said something to them? To the manager?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":90,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advice"],"yoast_head":"\nMiss Manners: They were making out in the restaurant, and we couldn’t look away - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=91\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Miss Manners: They were making out in the restaurant, and we couldn’t look away - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Miss Manners: Should we have said something to them? To the manager?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=91\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-21T08:37:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/d6e357d2c0c1e09171c3fd5fa0d95fef.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1023\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"702\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=91#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=91\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Miss Manners: They were making out in the restaurant, and we couldn’t look away\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-21T08:37:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=91\"},\"wordCount\":564,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=91#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/d6e357d2c0c1e09171c3fd5fa0d95fef.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Advice\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=91#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=91\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=91\",\"name\":\"Miss Manners: They were making out in the restaurant, and we couldn’t look away - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=91#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=91#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/d6e357d2c0c1e09171c3fd5fa0d95fef.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-21T08:37:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=91#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=91\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=91#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/d6e357d2c0c1e09171c3fd5fa0d95fef.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/d6e357d2c0c1e09171c3fd5fa0d95fef.webp\",\"width\":1023,\"height\":702},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=91#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Miss Manners: They were making out in the restaurant, and we couldn’t look away\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Miss Manners: They were making out in the restaurant, and we couldn’t look away - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=91","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Miss Manners: They were making out in the restaurant, and we couldn’t look away - Next City Digest","og_description":"Miss Manners: Should we have said something to them? To the manager?","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=91","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-05-21T08:37:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1023,"height":702,"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/d6e357d2c0c1e09171c3fd5fa0d95fef.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=91#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=91"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Miss Manners: They were making out in the restaurant, and we couldn’t look away","datePublished":"2026-05-21T08:37:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=91"},"wordCount":564,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=91#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/d6e357d2c0c1e09171c3fd5fa0d95fef.webp","articleSection":["Advice"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=91#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=91","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=91","name":"Miss Manners: They were making out in the restaurant, and we couldn’t look away - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=91#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=91#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/d6e357d2c0c1e09171c3fd5fa0d95fef.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-21T08:37:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=91#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=91"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=91#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/d6e357d2c0c1e09171c3fd5fa0d95fef.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/d6e357d2c0c1e09171c3fd5fa0d95fef.webp","width":1023,"height":702},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=91#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Miss Manners: They were making out in the restaurant, and we couldn’t look away"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/90"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}