DEAR MISS MANNERS: I know you’re going to think this is a made-up letter, but I assure you it’s not. (But then, I’d say that even if it were, wouldn’t I?)

When one has been invited to stay overnight in a home without indoor plumbing, but is provided with a chamber pot (no lid) under the bed, what does one do with it the next morning? Leave it? Ask one’s hostess? What if you don’t speak her language?

This happened to my husband and me a few years back, when we were camping in Europe. The people who owned the land were horrified to think of our sleeping outside in the cold. With hand gestures, they made it clear that they would be insulted if we did not accept their hospitality for the night.

Not wanting to be ugly Americans, we did. They generously gave us their own bedroom, which inclu

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