Mary Killen
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Q. Some months ago we invited friends to a concert. We did not expect them to pay for the tickets and they (perfectly properly) did not offer to do so. They plainly enjoyed the evening and promised a ‘return match’. Recently they have asked us to join them at a theatrical entertainment, but when giving us details they also asked us to pay for the tickets on the evening! We have no wish to fall out over such a trifling matter — what should we do?
M.H., Mannings Heath, Sussex
A. Why not ring your friends back and say cheerily ‘Bad news, we can’t come after all. We’ve just looked into our entertainment budget for this season and we’ve completely exhausted it!’ Then stay silent while they burble.
Q. Your correspondent is embarrassed by his pyjama trousers gaping at breakfast in mixed company. Have you ever heard of the old fashioned nightshirt as worn by Ebenezer Scrooge in Dickens’s Christmas Carol? It can be bought in brushed cotton from Johnsons of Brighton or in silk from Patra, the ladies’ fashion merchant. Since I discovered how comfortable it is I never want another pair of pyjamas. The matching night cap is not obligatory.S.F., Sanderstead, Surrey
A. Provided the nightshirt is lengthy enough to exclude the risk of seated exposure, this may well be a good solution.
Q. My lady-wife and I have planned to spend our autumn years among the literary groups beside Aldeburgh’s pebbly beach but worry that your advice for the male literati to wear ladies’ pyjamas for breakfast there may tempt transvestites to the salty shore. Better that the early morning promenaders should be encouraged to don their peignoirs back to front après nages.O.J., Aldeburgh, Suffolk
A. Or indeed the pyjama bottoms themselves since a glimpse through the aperture of the back bottom would be much less shocking than a glimpse through the front. Thank you to the many other readers who have responded with such enthusiasm to the plight of the pyjama wearer who first shared his problem with us.
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