Miss Manners: Shouldn’t a legitimate business make employees cover tattoos?

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My 27-year-old granddaughter says most people her age have tattoos, and don’t even cover them up at work.

Is this the new norm? I thought legitimate businesses made employees cover them up.

GENTLE READER: There are two things here that Miss Manners would like to avoid: finding out what you believe constitutes a “legitimate business,” and challenging workplace policies that have already been established and with which everyone seems to be content.

As long as the tattoos are not actively offensive and the employers are fine with it, Miss Manners is not getting involved. Think of the tattoos as a chance to see firsthand that this generation loves their mothers — and butterflies.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: On many occasions over the course of my life, I’ve been approached in public settings by unfamiliar men who ask to know my height.

Without waiting for an answer, they say something like, “You must be at least 6 foot, because I am 5-foot-10.” These men are invariably much shorter than their stated heights, which further adds to the discomfort of the situation.

It’s happened many times, in nearly an identical way each time, and I am just as flummoxed for a response in my 40s as I was in my teens. How would Miss Manners suggest I respond?

GENTLE READER: “5-foot-10, you say? Weird. So am I.”