Miss Manners: I’m a vegetarian AND I can read a menu, thank you very much

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have been a vegetarian for 15 years. It never fails that once a fellow diner finds out this information, they immediately take it upon themselves to read aloud everything on the menu that I am “allowed” to have. It’s as if being a vegetarian means I can no longer read.

I often don’t divulge my eating preferences because of this. And it never ends! I can eat with friends I’ve known for decades, and as soon as the menus are placed on the table, I am bombarded with “Oh, look, Giselle, you can have (XYZ).” Believe me when I say it happens every single time.



I want it to stop. What can I say that isn’t rude? (By the way, my husband always says they are just being nice. I say they are being annoying!) GENTLE READER: “Thank you, yes, I saw that.

” And they are being annoying. *** (Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.

com ; to her email, [email protected] ; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

).