DEAR MISS MANNERS: I’ve made many friends throughout the world on social media, and as we approach the upcoming national election, they have overloaded me with information criticizing the political administration of this country -- strenuously advising me on how to vote to change it.

They send me articles detailing one political situation after another, as if I were totally unaware of what is happening here. And it is always with a distinct point of view.

Mostly, I agree with what they’re saying, except they tend to stereotype Americans as people who need to be educated against making bad choices -- implying that I am in that group, as well.

How do I thank my international friends for their opinions, yet politely discourage any further advice? By the way, I offer no recommendations on how they should fix their own political systems, many of which are similarly problematic.

GENTLE READER: That is because it is so much easier to fix other people’s problems than one’s own. Here is the response Miss Manners recommends:

“I am pleased at your interest in the American political situation. And while you seem to be on the right track, I’m sure you appreciate the complications with which even we, who follow this minutely, must struggle.” And then suggest two or three serious books on the subject.

Thereafter, asking what they thought of the books will get them off the subject, because they will not have read them. Or if they have, you might be able to have more intelligent exchanges.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Is it necessary to cover your mouth with your hand while yawning if you’re wearing a face mask?

GENTLE READER: Not if you yawn quietly.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Several years ago, I became friends with a lovely person who knocked on my door as part of her ministry. I, myself, subscribe to a different religion, and my husband of 33 years is agnostic. I respect all denominations, but here’s the rub:

My friend called me yesterday, claiming that her good friend lost a pet, and was inconsolable. She knows I do talk therapy for people who don’t have resources for grieving a pet, so I called the third party.

Imagine my surprise when I was given a lecture about having to give up my beliefs in order to avoid hellfire. By the way, I’m not a Satanist. I’m a Catholic.

Is there a reasonable way to nip this issue in the bud? I have no problem with what others believe; more power to them. But I don’t enjoy strangers showing up at my door, unannounced, with pamphlets.

I’m probably overreacting, but it was therapeutic to write this out, at least.

GENTLE READER: Please assure Miss Manners that your friend is not promoting religion by lying to trap you with another proselytizer. Surely there was a miscommunication involved.

After all, your friendship apparently began by just such an approach. So you will have to explain to your friend that despite the good fortune of having met her through her unsolicited mission, you are not willing to admit others on such a basis. And then you may ask how the bereaved owner of a deceased pet managed to think otherwise.

(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I hold different political beliefs than many of my friends and family, although I don’t generally advertise them. This election cycle is causing me a considerable amount of anxiety. I stopped following social media once I realized it no longer brought me joy.

Now family members have started sending me political messages directly via email or texts. When this happens, I politely state that I am not interested in hearing more on the subject and ask them to refrain from sending me further messages of this kind.

Usually, the sender complies, but sometimes I am treated as if my request is unreasonable and rude. Is it?

GENTLE READER: No; their persistence is. But if your current method continues to fail, Miss Manners would also endorse your deleting these messages without comment.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am of an unorthodox religious persuasion which holds the belief that the dead may be contacted, and that there are various aids to this process.

Anything tied to the dead person may be used, although the more intimately tied, the easier it is to establish the connection. The most intimate items, of course, would be segments of the deceased’s own body. So, to the question.

Is there any polite way to make it clear to a loved one that you hope, when they pass on, to inherit some part of them? I have racked my brain on this one and even done some research, and I am failing to come up with anything.

I suspect that if any rules apply, they would be the same that concern making it clear to a loved one that you hope to inherit any specific item -- which is to say, it’s very rude to ask at all.

But I think in this case it’s something not likely to enter most people’s minds. I would also like to make it clear that I wouldn’t be making this request to, say, anyone who may believe that it is necessary to their resurrection that their corpse remain intact. Rather, I would be asking friends and family who are (for instance) Buddhist or atheist, and therefore not likely to be overly concerned with what becomes of their physical remains, or co-religionists, who may be sympathetic to my inquiry, but still distressed at conversations involving their own mortality.

GENTLE READER: What did you have in mind? “Mind if I borrow your eyeballs when you croak?”

Miss Manners is afraid that she is unable to help find a polite way to say this -- as there is a reason it never entered anyone’s minds. If you truly think that certain family members or friends might be amenable to it, she supposes that you could ease into the conversation by telling them of your beliefs and asking their general thoughts on organ donation. If they’re squeamish about that, then you can be reasonably certain that they will not want their body parts used to get a call from you in the afterlife.

(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am a middle school teacher, and although we are not beginning classes in person yet this year, I cannot stop thinking about something that always bugs me at the beginning of the school year.

Many of my students walk around campus with some type of earbuds in. It is an expectation of mine that when talking or listening, students take them out. This is because the other person involved cannot know whether the person with earbuds is listening to audio or to them.

I explain this to the students, and emphasize that it is an issue of showing respect to the person you are conversing with. They often fight back on this rule and insist that turning off the audio when conversing is enough.

Am I missing the mark on what’s important here? Do you think removing earbuds is something that shows respect or lack thereof?

GENTLE READER: These students will also probably try to convince you that they can listen while playing video games, texting their friends and playing with slime, but the optics are still rude.

Proper etiquette is so often shown through symbolism. Taking one’s cap off in school provides no practical purpose, but it shows reverence for the institution. Demanding that ear pieces be removed when talking to others is, Miss Manners assures you, entirely within your jurisdiction. You are the teacher. It is your duty (as well as the parents’) to teach your students respect. In fact, it is probably the most valuable and practical lesson they can learn.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: What is the meaning of white hydrangeas and lilies in a vase left at the doorstep of a single woman?

GENTLE READER: That the sender wants to tempt the recipient’s innocence and then to mourn its loss.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: We have two great-nieces who are sisters. One has graduated from college, and the other from high school. They are truly lovely girls, both very intelligent and mature.

They live in another state, and we would like to send them both monetary gifts to mark the occasions of their graduations. Normally, we would send more money for a college graduation gift than a high school graduation gift -- and therein lies our dilemma.

The girls are both currently living at home, and while we would obviously send a separate card/check to each of them, it feels odd to send one great-niece more money than the other. As I mentioned, they are both very mature, and I don’t think they would question the differing amounts, but I still haven’t been able to write the checks.

GENTLE READER: Then refrain. That is the problem with giving money as a present: The beneficiary knows exactly how much the gift is worth.

While your great-nieces may not question it now, it will soon occur to the younger one, at least, that her status is not going to change. You can avoid this with equal checks, but Miss Manners instead recommends choosing presents that reflect their differing tastes -- not the relative value of the recipient’s achievements.

(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)