The pendulum of propriety has swung back and forth for centuries. The ancient Greeks had no concept of a separation between public and private life. In Jane Austen novels there are all manner of rules to follow before a man can be asked to dinner, much less find out something personal… like his middle name for instance. But society today has gone too far and the busy bodies of this world have no issue asking for your social security number and what the top 5 sites are in your web history. For all our sharing on Facebook, blogs, and Twitter there is still a very important line. We would do well to reestablish a certain reserve when it comes to the personal information of others.

An incomplete list of what you should never ask.

• Never ask what something cost if the price was negotiable (a company, house, car, etc) or if the answer is likely to make you overly upset.
• A woman’s age or any number that will make that age obvious.
• The living arrangements of a person’s child or how and why they got that way.
• When someone says “I have plans”, never ask further… If they wanted you to know they would have offered the information. This is also true of ” I’m busy”, “I won’t be able to”, and “I’ll be out of the country.”
• Never ask a man anything personal about any woman that does not share his last name.
• Never ask anything to do with a person’s salary.
• Never ask about a failed relationship unless you’ve been voluntarily confided in before.
• Never ask about anything medical.
• Never ask what time someone got home last night.
• Never ask a question that has no correct answer.

There are those people in our lives that these rules simply do not apply to… Our mothers’, our inner circle, law enforcement…. However its fairly obvious if any of those titles fit.

More importantly, if someone asks you any of these types of questions or anything else you would rather not answer you are completely in your right to decline their question. Be humorous, be gentle, and if all else fails…. say “No comment.”