Q. A neighbour who I do not know well, but
certainly well enough to invite to a drinks party, accepted our invitation with a pre-stamped reply card then failed to turn up on the day or ring to apologise. No doubt something more important came up and I would not normally be bothered, but I will inevitably meet this man on the platform of our local railway station and am slightly dreading the encounter. You see he is something of a celebrity and very much in demand at the moment. So it was marginally embarrassing and disappointing that he did not come since at least half my guests had their eyes trained on the garden gate as I had told people he was coming. I have now been left feeling like a celebrity-climbing imposter, so how should I retain my dignity when said celebrity patronises me in front of fellow commuters with an over-profuse apology?
Name and address withheld A. Take the wind out of his sails by patronising him. ‘Don’t worry about it at all,’ you can reassure him. ‘We just thought we would push the boat out and invite everybody we know locally and it ended up being such a big party we were jolly glad there were a few no-shows.’
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