DEAR MISS MANNERS: I enjoy entertaining in my tiny apartment. My kitchen has only 28 square feet of floor space, and counter space is also very limited.
Advertisement
There is room for only one person in there, and there is no place to set dirty dishes. I have my own system for clearing up, which just takes me a few minutes. Even so, every time I get up to clear the table for dessert, my delightful friends jump up to help.
Despite my best and most diplomatic efforts to explain the above, I have guests who insist on "helping" by bringing stacks of dishes and food platters into the kitchen. There is literally no place to put them until I am ready.
Last night, one guest stood in the doorway with a stack of dishes and asked, "Where shall I put these?" I was tempted to look around the kitchen and say, "Gee, I don't know. Looks like there isn't anywhere to put them. Which is why I asked you not to bring them."
How can I get through to these unhelpful and oblivious guests?
GENTLE READER: Ah, yes. Like those kind folks who will help a little old lady across the street without listening to her protests about being headed in the opposite direction.
In your case, the polite thing is for guests to desist when an offer of help is declined. What Miss Manners would have said to that unhelpful one is, "Oh, just distribute them back on the table until I can get to them. Thanks so much."