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M,
.en and women who hold jobs and live alone can entertain as well as anybody
else. You may, therefore, ask why we have a separate chapter for them. What is different about the entertaining they do? There isn't very much. They take pride in their homes, they want to entertain and the same principles of entertaining apply for everyone.
time means everything
The one great point of difference is time. Without a full-time housekeeper, there is very little time to spend on preparation for entertaining, and it means that those who live alone have to be better organized and more efficient.
making time
What time they have they must budget carefully. They will give dinner parties, for instance, later than most people.
Let's say you work and you get home from the office at six. You have invited your dinner guests for seven-thirty, or even for eight or eight-thirty, if that suits you better. You have learned to plan a meal which can be gotten together in about half an hour. Flowers may have to be arranged. The table may have to be set (usually you don't get it done ahead of time, especially if you live in one room). You want a bath and time to dress. An hour and a half should be sufficient for all this without rushing.
without any help
It is taken for granted in this chapter that you have either no help or a one-day-a-week cleaning woman. If you have help, then you save that much time. There are several possibilities if you have a cleaning woman. You may choose to do your entertaining on the night of the day she comes because everything will be neat. In addition, she can prepare vegetables and leave everything ready for you. On the other hand, you may prefer to do your entertaining on the night before she comes, so that she can wash the dishes and do the after-party cleaning. Sunday morning breakfast is one of the best times for working men and women to entertain. Afterwards, you can do your own cleaning, unless your guests have such a good time that they won't go home, in which case perhaps you'll let them help with the dishes.
Another alternative is to entertain on Saturday nights and do the cleaning up yourself on Sunday. This is perhaps a hard way to spend your one day of rest, but occasionally it is worth it.
schedules
For working people who live alone, it is not only essential to have a schedule but to write it down in the order in which it is to be done. This is a sample:
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