When I was in London
When I was in London a few weeks back, I picked up the Sunday London Times and stumbled across the print version of Miss Abigail’s Time Warp Advice column. I knew I’d seen that column somewhere before but couldn’t place it. After checking the website, it clicked. If I remember correctly, I actually had brunch with Miss Abigail on Valentine’s Day a couple years ago. Bizarre.
For the record, I also was introduced to Miss Manners at a book reading by Deborah Eisenberg (my former thesis advisor) several years ago. Deborah just introduced her by her name (Judith Martin, not Miss Manners!). When we were seated and my companion nudged me in the ribs and said, “You know who that was, right? Miss Manners?” It’s just as well I didn’t recognize her; I probably would have done something like shout Miss Manners? Get out! and punched her on the shoulder. I was paranoid for the rest of the evening that I’d unwittingly picked my nose, used the sorbet spoon to ladle bacon grease on my mashed potatoes, or made some other breach of etiquette in front of her.