Miss Manners: I don’t want to make a fuss about my clutch, but where the heck should I put it?

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Is it acceptable to place a small evening clutch on the table while dining out?

Often, the restaurant chairs have open backs, so if I place the clutch behind me, it falls to the floor. (In the worst cases, it spills its contents, too.) If I place it in my lap under my napkin, if frequently slides to the floor, because my dress has a slippery fabric. If I try to place it under my leg, it cuts off circulation, even if I manage not to crush the contents.

Most clutches don’t have straps to accommodate a purse hook, either. But I’ve seen so many severe comments against placing a bag on the table, I’m at a loss.

GENTLE READER: Why the manufacturing industry has not caught on to the fact that women carry stuff -- especially when that same industry encourages buying that stuff in the first place -- is beyond Miss Manners. (Just look at how pathetically grateful we are when our skirts have pockets!)

With all the great inventions of the modern world, can no one create accommodations for our bags? Not just at restaurant tables, but in driver’s seats, at pubs, in theaters, on buses? And not just those table hooks that leap to the floor at the slightest movement.

We should not have to make a fuss. But until Miss Manners makes her fortune by inventing a solution that works, she will allow you to place your clutch on the table. If there are complaints, she urges you to turn to the server for an alternate recommendation -- perhaps another chair can be procured. If we keep making our voices heard, perhaps one day there will be change.

Stories by Miss Manners

(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.)

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