Translations:Cocktail Evenings/11/en

For guests, the expectations are modest but real: arriving within the stated window, bringing something small if that is the local custom, engaging with people beyond the person they came with, and reading when the evening is drawing to a close. Community discussion frequently returns to the last of these. The guest who stays long past the natural end is a familiar figure, and the discomfort is usually mutual rather than one-sided.