DEAR MISS MANNERS: I learned, as a child in an all-right-handed family, to set the table with the knife and spoon on the right and the fork on the left. Since I gave birth to a left-handed child, I have come to notice the many ways left-handed people must cope with right-handed products and systems, such as spiral notebooks and writing from left to right.

I see that manufacturers have started producing notebooks especially for left-handers. Would it not be a kindness to set the place for a left-hander with the knife and spoon on the left and the fork on the right? Would that be considered bad manners?

GENTLE READER: This might prove confusing, since many have their own method or make the switch themselves. Better, Miss Manners suggests, to focus on seating them on the outside left corner — so that they can eat without fear of jabbing their dinner companions.

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.