Q. How can you tell other people tactfully that their
gum-chewing makes them look bad? Quite a few girls from my school chew gum at parties — usually as a way to stop themselves eating too much and making sure they don’t have bad breath. But I have seen my brother’s friends imitating these girls by putting on high voices and pretending to chew and I feel if they only knew what a turn-off it was to the kind of boys they are trying to attract they would do themselves a favour and cut out the habit. What do you recommend, Mary?
A.C., London W12 A. Gum-chewers wrongly imagine their habit is discreet. It is only kind to alert them to the error of their ways. Observe to the offender’s face that you note she is chewing gum and engage her in discussion of the merits of rival brands. Share the news that you too adore gum but that you have had to stop using it at parties because your brother tipped you off that you were chomping in a really disgusting manner and it was putting people off. ‘I always used to forget that I wasn’t at home,’ you can confide. ‘How do you avoid forgetting where you are and just chomping away?’ you can enquire pleasantly.
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