How, politely, to say no to being photographed?
DEAR ABBY: With technology the way it is today and everyone taking photos and videos of everyone around them, are there any new rules of etiquette? I'm asking because of a couple of situations I've been in lately.
DEAR ABBY: With technology the way it is today and everyone taking photos and videos of everyone around them, are there any new rules of etiquette? I'm asking because of a couple of situations I've been in lately.
The other day I was kayaking with some people I met online. While I was rowing, struggling to catch up with those who were faster, breathing hard and sweating, a kayaker in front of me whom I had just met started videotaping me. I didn't want to be videotaped, but I didn't want to break my stride and explain.
Yesterday, I was in a hot spring at a health spa, wearing a swimsuit. I looked up and a woman I didn't know was about to take a photo of two other women. I was in the background. Fortunately, I was able to leap out of the way, and the only part of me that might have been photographed was my backside.
In both situations I was uncomfortable, but I did nothing to stop it.
What is a polite way to ask someone to stop?
- Photo-Shy in California
DEAR PHOTO-SHY: It's perfectly acceptable to say, "Please don't do that," or "Let me get out of range."
If the photographer has any manners, he/she will accommodate you.
DEAR ABBY: My husband never gets me anything for Mother's Day.
We have two children.
He says, "You're not my mother!"
What do you think?
- Hurt in Pennsylvania
DEAR HURT: Is your husband the father of your children?
If the answer is yes, I think the man you married is thoughtless, insensitive or cheap.