Am I the only one who finds thank you cards unsettling? I found a few while cleaning my desk yesterday and eventually decided that I don’t like receiving thank you cards. They make me feel bad.
The problem stems from not know what is the socially acceptable treatment of a thank you card is. Opening the card, reading it, smiling, and promptly throwing it in the trash seems callous. On the other hand saving the card until the end of time seems silly too. Is there some sort of holding period in which you’re supposed to save the card before discarding it? I have two problems with that. One, if it’s going to be thrown away eventually why not throw it away immediately to be sure it gets done (because I’ll feel like a callous jerk). Two, I have a naturally tendency to be a packrat which I must constantly guard against. If I give myself an inch I’ll most likely take a yard. Dawn has actually helped me break a lot of my more egregious packrat habits…but I still have useless pieces of paper from when I was 7 years old tucked away somewhere (my biographers will thank me later).
While deliberating the fate of the thank you cards in my desk yesterday I was struck with a funny thought. Maybe I want to keep them because I see them as a records. If ever I am put on trial for being a horrible person and my life is audited at least I’ll have the means to mount a feasible defense in order to cast a shadow of a doubt.
Barrister: I submit to you that you are a horrible person and you have been nothing but a blight on humanity.
Bill: Not true - and I have the receipts to prove it.
It’s probably not fair to single out thank you cards. Birthday cards, Christmas cards: is there any sort of card that doesn’t produce anxiety? I think the handmade cards are the worst…they’re like little piece of art. Surely they are not meant be thrown out. But if you make exceptions for them shouldn’t you make exceptions for the rest? Wouldn’t you implicitly be saying that the thanks of people not willing to make their own cards do not merit remembrance? It’s seems like a quagmire that can easily be avoided with the use of email. No one expects their email to be saved and cherished.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
I don't save cards. In fact, as soon as I read the card and take any prize that may be hidden within, I shred it--envelope and all. I feel a little bad about it, but most cards aren't worth the storage. I will keep cards I find particularly hilarious or touching, and I keep handmade cards.
Well, I would if I ever got any.
Feel free to immediately shred any card that gets sent to you from my household. You can do it guilt free. Consider it an intangible pack-in with the card.
Also, you should probably read the card before shredding it.
I too feel the compulsion to shred them. I ultimately decided to shred the thank you cards I was dealing with yesterday. I think shredding them helps cover up the crime of destroying them.
Having recently sent you a thank-you card, I should note I'm fine with you destroying it in any manner you see fit. I don't mind getting them, but I like them to have something more than "Thanks! It's great!" I appreciate those that tell little stories. That said, we were so braindead after the showers and such, I couldn't muster the creativity they likely deserved.
But I'm like you. I read em, then toss em. I don't personally ever need one, but I know there are some tender hearts out there that would probably feel slighted.
I HAVE, however, started sending gifts with a note that says: "Do not, under any circumstances, send a thank-you card. You have better things to do with your life."
I'm a solutions guy: Send a thank you note to the sender thanking them for the thank you note, thereby obtaining karma's permission to throw out the original note...
...if everybody does this for, say, six months, I think we'll see thank you notes go away for good.
David: I really like the idea of the “no thank you card required” note. It may sound a bit presumptuous…but at least then I’m solid jackassery footing. Familiar ground.
Scott: I suspect your plan will have the full support of the US Post Office.
Post a Comment