#social-signaling

#social-signaling

Unfortunate as this is for your friendship, it is fascinating to Miss Manners as an illustration of etiquette's subtext. On the surface, your behavior was reasonable and considerate. Your friend admitted to wanting the card, so you tried to give it back to her. Twice. But presents (unless they are merely plucked from the recipient's wish list) are loaded with symbolic meaning: I know you, I understand you, and I want to please you.

Walking through the Long Island Railroad concourse, my son was perplexed by the close proximity of three chicken-themed restaurants-Chick-fil-A, Raising Cane's, and Pollo Campero-and by the fact that a shop called Gotham News mainly seemed to sell candy and bottled water. He also wanted to know why some people, as they strolled or waited, drank out of cans in brown paper bags. "Why do they use those bags?" he asked.