Miss Manners feels obliged to point out that you, as an auction junkie, benefit from this chaos. Buying a complete set would be a one-time pleasure, but if you buy an incomplete one, you can have a lifetime of sport in tracking down the missing items.

I have become something of an auction junkie, and I am surprised at how often I see incomplete sets of sterling flatware for sale. I’m confused by the incompleteness of place settings and the fact that this was apparently how they were collected.

MISS MANNERS by Judith Martin, Nicholas Ivor Martin and Jacobina Martin DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have become something of an auction junkie, and I am surprised at how often I see incomplete sets of sterling flatware for sale.