DEAR MISS MANNERS: Is it OK to sit down at a cocktail party? To sit in a chair, on a couch or at a table to eat?

GENTLE READER: Yes, and Miss Manners would go so far as to say that it is not OK to give a cocktail party where there is no place for the infirm, the weary and the over-cocktailed to sit down.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: So many people get Veterans Day and Memorial Day mixed up. What is an easy way to help the confused?

GENTLE READER: Alphabetically? Memorial Day comes first, in May, and Veterans Day is in November. (This requires forgetting that Veterans Day used to be called Armistice Day. So Miss Manners has just added to the confusion.)

Anyway, she would prefer that you memorize the meaning of the days in question: “memorial,” meaning in memory of those who lost their lives; “veterans,” who are among us, in gratitude for their having protected us.

Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, [email protected]; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.