Every summer we spend a fortnight in McAndrews Hotel in North Mayo Ireland It is a family tradition instigated by my grandmother and by now it has achieved a certain sacredness Nothing is allowed to interfere with the ritual We are of a kind McAndrews clientele oldfashioned odd perhaps some would say snobbish I do not like the bad manners the insolence of shop assistants which passes for egalitarianism in this present age I resent chummy overtures from waiters who sometimes appear to restrain themselves with difficulty from slapping one on the back I know most of my fellowguests names  like me they have been coming here since they were children  yet can rest assured that when I meet any of them in any part of the hotel I shall be spared all social intercourse apart from a civil word of greeting Such respect for dignity and personal privacy is hard to come by in commercial establishments these days