Miss Manners counsels on handling scrutiny, bereavement and politics

In a recent syndicated advice column, etiquette columnist Miss Manners responded to readers seeking guidance on three fraught social situations: how to approach a relative who has appeared in the news for an alleged wrongdoing, how to cope when strangers overshare about loss while someone is newly bereaved, and how to express sympathy for another person’s distress without endorsing their political views.

On the question of a relative whose conduct has become public, Miss Manners advised against mentioning the incident directly. Instead, she recommended a simple, neutral inquiry such as asking how the person is doing. She said there is no need for special inflection because most people are already aware of their own circumstances and will take the cue to respond as they wish. That approach, she said, lets the relative lead the conversation and avoids compounding public embarrassment while still offering support.

A reader who said her husband had died unexpectedly three months earlier described finding routine errands fraught with encounters in which strangers stop her, ask how she is, then go on to recount their own traumatic losses. Miss Manners acknowledged the reader’s need...