Why, you look marvelous! I don’t know what it is, but you look fabulous.” D - Judith Martin

There was no singles problem until singles got so single-minded that they stopped wasting time with anyone ineligible. Before that, it was understood that one of society's main tasks was matchmaking. People with lifelong friendships and ties to local nonprofessional organizations did not have to fear that isolation would accompany retirement, old age, or losing a spouse. Overburdened householders could count on the assistance not only of their own extended families, but of the American tradition of neighborliness.

Anyone who could remember the heyday of the cocktail party probably doesn’t.

Miss Manners’ attitude is that it is better to bar the door to unwanted guests than to back them out through it.