DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am employed at a local department store where my primary position is in the dressing room. I check the number of items taken into each room, then I button, zip and hang up items to be placed back on the floor racks.

Our store's dressing room has a limit of 10 items per customer at a time. Most of the time, the customer will bring in the full 10 items, keep two or three things and hand the rest to me when they are done. Often they will bring shopping carts loaded with more than 10 things, try on a few, then bring those back to their cart to swap for additional items. They will still leave with just a couple of items, or none at all!

There aren’t nearly enough racks in the dressing room to rehang all the items that are deposited with me. We are a busy store and it’s impossible to keep up with this frenzy.

I wish I could get the store managers to reduce the limit of items allowed in the dressing room, but that’s not going to happen, so I’m appealing to you women here: Rein in the free-for-all try-ons. You aren’t creating jobs, just making the work harder to keep up with -- and making few purchases to show for it. Most of us only make minimum wage as it is.

GENTLE READER: Carrying out a policy that makes your workday harder is one of the joys of working for others -- particularly when the policy is either so poorly thought out or so poorly implemented that it cannot achieve its objectives.

But unilaterally implementing one’s own policy will result in looking for a new job. And so the options are: carrying out the objectionable policy, convincing the boss to see the error of their ways, or finding a way to implement the boss’s policy that does work.

The latter may be the most challenging, but will open up possibilities for an even better fourth option: finding a more agreeable job, either by expanding your experience or by proving your worth in your current position.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I know several people who use walkers, and I see some of the devices' limitations. It can be hard navigating tall curbs, walking over rocky ground, maneuvering through tight spaces, walking downhill, traveling for long distances, standing in line for too long, and folding it up to put in a car.

Every so often, I see someone using a walker that seems really well designed for various terrains or different uses. I sometimes stop and ask them about it -- where they got it, if it works well, what they think of it, etc.

Everyone I have talked to has been receptive and informative. But now I wonder if they were just being polite and I was being a pest. What do you think?

GENTLE READER: Asking people about their medical devices is technically not, Miss Manners admits, inquiring into someone’s medical condition -- which would be a no-no -- but it is too nearly that to receive her blessing. She would be slightly more receptive if you were using a similar device yourself, or if you were the person’s doctor. Or lying prone and in need of assistance.

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

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My wife and I had an amazing and intimate honeymoon in the Leeward Islands. In the spirit of the occasion, we booked first-class tickets for our flights.

During boarding for the return leg, the flight attendant asked if we would like anything to drink. We requested champagne to commemorate a perfect week spent together. The attendant stated that they only had enough champagne for us each to order a glass, and that there wouldn’t be any more for the flight.

We took this to mean that each passenger on this flight could only order champagne once, so our reply to the flight attendant was, “That’s fine, we’ll take it now, thank you!”

However, after she served us the champagne, the couple behind us asked her for some -- to which the flight attendant replied that we had finished the champagne for the entire flight!

In the moment, we had misunderstood her, but it got me thinking: If we'd known no one else would get champagne but us, would it have been poor manners to take the last of it? Certainly that is the case in a social setting, but is it still the case on a commercial flight?

GENTLE READER: The rule you refer to is a social rule, as distinct from a business rule. And a meal at a restaurant -- and, by extension, a meal on an airplane, even in first class -- is a commercial transaction.

You would, therefore, defer to another couple you were traveling with, but not to the people a few rows back, whom you have never met. In your case, you did no wrong -- although it seems worth mentioning that the flight attendant blaming you for the lack of champagne was hardly first-class treatment.

And while Miss Manners realizes you were probably borrowing adjectives from the resort’s brochure when you described your honeymoon as "amazing" and "intimate," she thinks that next time, you might just leave it at "amazing."

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Are the rules about discussing religion in social settings somewhat relaxed when someone volunteers that they (or their family) are clergy?

For instance, I’d never ask someone I just met about their denomination, or where they attend religious services. But most innocuous follow-up questions about a clergy member's calling would reveal that information, even if indirectly.

I obviously don’t want to start spiritual debates in social settings, but I also wouldn’t want someone to feel like they made a conversation awkward when they only stated the same information about themselves as everyone else had.

GENTLE READER: You are presupposing that everyone has long since forgotten the rules against discussing one’s profession in social settings. Maybe.

Miss Manners agrees that it would be unkind to treat clergy as pariahs in conversation as soon as they mention what they do. And she will overlook the rule about discussing professions in the moment -- if we can at least agree not to compare salaries while doing so.

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

DEAR MISS MANNERS: As a teacher for the past 30 years, I have been fortunate to receive thoughtful gifts of thanks and appreciation from my students and their families during the holiday season and at the end of the school year. These gifts often include mugs, chocolates, baked goods or gift cards. (Between us, I will admit that my favorite gifts are notes of appreciation from students and parents.)

In return, I have always taken the time to write careful and personal thank-you notes for each of these gifts. Part of my motivation has been to set an example for my students, demonstrating the importance of expressing gratitude through a handwritten note.

However, this practice is time-consuming, particularly during my breaks, when the sheer volume of letters overwhelms me. At Christmas this year, the time it took prompted me to pause and reflect: Is it truly necessary to write a thank-you note for a thank-you gift? It feels a bit circular.

I can’t imagine not writing the notes, but I feel compelled to ask: Would a simpler acknowledgment suffice, or is this a tradition I should continue?

GENTLE READER: Yes! Continue!

Let us not risk perpetuating that prevalent, but totally false, idea that a present given in thanks need not be acknowledged -- that it would lead to a loop in which the giver and recipient would spend the rest of their lives thanking each other.

Nonsense. A letter of thanks does not require a response; a present, given for whatever reason, does.

Those children were probably somewhat involved in giving you those presents -- they may even have chosen them. Do you want to leave them wondering if you even cared?

Children almost never receive letters (well, neither do adults, these days), so these would be special. You appreciate letters from them and their parents, so you ought to understand how much they would appreciate letters from you.

And it will be an additional boon to the parents who are requiring their children to write letters of thanks for their birthday and holiday presents.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I’m feeling stuck about how to respond to a text message that combines a thank-you and a compliment. For example, would you respond to a text message that says, “Thank you for the delicious dinner” with a "thank you" (for appreciating the dinner), a "you’re welcome" (for the thank-you), or both?

GENTLE READER: Neither. You’re off free.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am permanently in a wheelchair as a result of an injury. There is nothing wrong with my mind. Many people assume I cannot speak for myself, and some move my wheelchair in directions I do not wish to go.

What can I say to these strangers to convey that I am capable of speaking for myself and that I do not care to be treated like a piece of furniture? Some people are considerate -- holding doors for me and asking if I would like help. Others are quite rude.

GENTLE READER: “Excuse me, but I am right here” to those who talk above you. And “STOP!” to anyone rude enough to move your wheelchair without your permission.

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