Awesome Etiquette

You’ve been open about your quest to find the perfect baby name. A friend hears your tentative choice and sends you another list of names to consider. Is she being helpful, or is something else at play? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A mother and son with opposing political views can work it out by agreeing not to discuss them. But what happens when the mother violates that agreement by posting her strident opinions on her son’s Facebook wall? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let’s say you’re repeatedly hit on at a club or bar. You’re not interested, but you’re also not one to humiliate the prospective suitor. Your friends want you to be more aggressive. What’s the best way to say no? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We need listener input on this one. A woman generously loans one of her parking spots to a neighbor, who then complains about the woman’s cat sitting on a car the neighbor is trying to sell. What to do? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An exhausted, multi-tasking mom greets her nice, new neighbors at the door…underdressed, let’s say. Should she apologize, or just let it go? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Your brother and his wife have a wonderful gift-giving tradition to celebrate your twin daughters’ birthday. But this year they forgot and didn’t even send a card. Should you respond in kind when their kids’ birthdays roll around? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Handling divorce drama at your annual campout, resolution on the “too much perfume at the office” issue, and more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You’re used to dining out with friends, but then they invite you over for a home-cooked meal. You learn pretty early into the appetizers that they aren’t the most skilled in the kitchen. In fact, it’s pretty bad. Do you say anything to them? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever been floored by someone’s perfume/cologne/scent? What about at work, where you can’t get away? Dan and Lizzie go deep with a demonstration of their 5-step etiquette process when they help out a young woman in the above situation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Want to know how Lizzie and Dan come up with the answers to the variety of questions on the show? On this episode, they break down their process of applying consideration, respect, and honesty to situations in the world so you can do it yourself. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the centennial episode, Lizzie and Dan give the definitive answers to some classic etiquette topics – thank you notes, wedding gifts, dining settings and utensils, and dealing with other people’s bad etiquette. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Friendship! Lizzie and Dan talk all about it with questions like this: Friends are telling lies about another friend…so what’s an appropriate response? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Someone has asked you to do them a big, last-minute favor to get them out of a major bind. You do your best, but instead of an enthusiastic thanks, you get criticism of the work you did. What do you say back? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You’ve got a friend who loves to be a part of the crowd. But you’ve noticed that whenever it’s their turn to buy the next round, they’ve suddenly had enough for the night, or have to go somewhere. Should you call them on it, or butt out? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You’re at a restaurant, and you’re the first person to finish your meal. Everyone else is still enjoying theirs and chatting. Should the server come and get your plate immediately, or wait for the rest of your party to finish? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You’re out with an acquaintance you don’t see very often. You suddenly hear yourself say “That was fun … we should do it again soon.” But you know you don’t mean it. Are you just following accepted social custom, or are you being rude and disingenuous? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The paint is still fresh on the walls, and some unpacked boxes are still sitting in the corner, but you are already getting the dreaded question: ‘Nice place … how much are you paying? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eating with dietary restrictions can be tricky when you aren’t cooking for yourself. On the show this week, Lizzie and Dan tackle a range of questions about food choices. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone has an opinion about your wedding. And you’ve tried being nice. So how do you get people to keep their ideas to themselves and let you enjoy your engagement? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener feels like they are being respectful when talking politics with a friend who supports the other side. But they feel that that respect isn’t being reciprocated. Can they keep having conversations, or will they blow up before November? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener’s brother is recently divorced due to his wife’s infidelity with a local restaurateur. She wants to boycott the man’s establishments when going out with friends, but also keep her brother’s secret. How can she stay true to family but not betray them to her friends? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener has recently moved to a bigger city, and is wondering how to deal with the people they see on the street who look like they might be experiencing homelessness. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A shy girl just prom-posed to a boy she likes. And he said yes! But then he finds out the prom is on the same night as his mother’s 50th birthday. What’s a boy to do? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener is an attorney whose job requires meeting people during very difficult times in their lives. Dan and Lizzie help with language on how to greet new clients in a way that doesn’t imply: You’re getting divorced. Will you be using cash or credit? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener feels like she comes across as being judgmental and reprimanding to her friends when discussing the manners with which she was brought up. Lizzie and Dan talk through strategies on how to talk about your upbringing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener suspects that a groomsman invitation is less about friendship and more about compensating for a less-than-responsible best man. Communication has been spotty. Plus, the costs are starting to pile up. Is it too late to back out? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We check in with listeners who’ve had their questions answered to see what happened after the advice was given. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener loves a liqueur. And loves to spread the love. But do they have to donate an expensive bottle to the party every time they BYOB? Or can they take it back at the end of the evening? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener was greeted in the office kitchen by a note dictating what co-workers could and could not heat up in the microwave for lunch. So, who has the authority to say so, and who has the authority to eat what they want? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener and her fiancé were gifted some basketball tickets, but the game was on a day she couldn’t attend. After the fiancé invited a mutual friend, he realized that he had the day wrong, and she could go. So, who gets the ticket? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lizzie and Dan hear from several listeners who might need to bring in someone with more authority. They tackle roommate issues, talking about people behind their backs, and when you’ve done as much as you can and have to consult someone else. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The audience weighs in when a dinner party host asks how to deal with guests who want to add songs to the evening’s playlist. We also hear from Rico and Brendan from the Dinner Party Download on the subject. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When a blizzard consumed Baltimore, a listener became frustrated when neighbors began claiming street parking spots after digging them out. So who has the etiquette right when reserving the parking spot you worked so hard to dig out? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A southerner and a New Englander ask for suggestions on raising their kids to say “sir” and “ma’am,” understanding that those terms have very different meanings and expectations in each of their home regions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener has been invited to the destination wedding of a co-worker, and is concerned about the cost. Lizzie and Dan discuss whether it’s rude to force your wedding guests to spend a lot to get to your event. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lizzie and Dan need your help with what to do! A listener bought an item secondhand, and in it has come across some items personal to someone else’s life. What should the listener do with the postcards in the book? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener thinks that some gifts from guests would be nice at her party celebrating a milestone event in her life. But she’s worried that “no gifts, please” has become de rigueur on modern party invitations for adults. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s a question as old as cinema itself – how long does a movie have to have been out to be OK to talk about openly? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener is torn over her invitation to the wedding of her son’s childhood friend. The boys had a fight, so her son isn’t invited, but the invitation came from the friend’s mother, whom the listener has been friends with for years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener isn’t sure about the etiquette of hosting online friends for a meat space get-together, and whether or not it’s okay to use in-game names instead of real names. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lizzie and Dan debate the complicated issue of a listener who was reprimanded for choosing the “wrong” slice of pizza after clearly saying he didn’t care which toppings were chosen. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener’s young son was confided in by a friend on some family business. Should the listener now reach out to the family during their hard time, or stay out of it? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After learning of an accidental pregnancy, a listener is worried about the judgment from people who had previously said she’d change her mind about not wanting to have children. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lizzie and Dan feature some of the extensive feedback they received on the great shoes on or off in the house debate. This one touched a nerve, and people offer some heartfelt perspectives from around the globe. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The holiday season can be a minefield when it comes to good behavior. Lizzie and Dan will talk with friends and special guests about etiquette throughout the season, including John Besh, Judith Hill, and Andrew Walsh. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener writes in with one of the most blatant regifting stories ever told, spurring conversations about how to handle receiving a clearly regifted present, and how to avoid being tactless if you choose to do some regifting of your own. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener has been unfriended by a family member on social media. Lizzie and Dan talk about what that might mean, and what should be done (or not done) in response. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Thanksgiving! On the show this week, an introverted and socially awkward listener has been invited to, but doesn’t want to attend, several office holiday parties. Is she obligated to go? Lizzie and Dan talk about the social obligations of work events. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lizzie and Dan field a question from a listener who is new to the professional world and is seeking advice for how to curtail the amount of hugs she gets at work. Especially from older male colleagues. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener has been diagnosed with aggressive cancer with a very poor prognosis. He wants to share the news with friends and family, but wants to know the best way to balance delivering potentially devastating personal news with compassion for those who will be receiving the message. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices