Althouse: Someone gives you a card, but when — exactly when — can you — should you

April 22, 2023

Someone gives you a card, but when — exactly when — can you — should you — throw it out?

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25 comments:

michaele said...: One of those amusing skits that has a lot of truth to it. Because I've been a card saver throughout the many years my husband and I have been married , I decided a few years ago that we should go through the old cards to re-give if one strikes a chord. I organized them in their appropriate categories and when the special occasion is approaching, I give him his plastic zip lock bag of him to me for birthday, Valentine's Day, or anniversary, etc. to pick one out and write a new personal message in. Since we're oldish now (he's 81, I'm 75), it's a nice way to be reminded of the things that were worth writing about in the personal hand written message part.; 4/22/23, 8:47 AM
Ice Nine said...: As most guys know, this is a very real issue with cards from women (and - we might have guessed - apparently with low-T soyboys, as well). I usually let my cards from her "season" in plain sight for a couple weeks, starting out standing upright on my desk for a few days; then lying flat randomly placed among other papers on the desktop; then transition in a top drawer, just to be safe; then finally to the recycle bin sandwiched between the pages of a magazine.; 4/22/23, 8:52 AM
Jersey Fled said...: My wife and I have pretty much every card we ever gave to each other.

We're celebrating our 51st wedding anniversary today.; 4/22/23, 8:52 AM
wendybar said...: Jersey Fled said...
My wife and I have pretty much every card we ever gave to each other.

We're celebrating our 51st wedding anniversary today.

4/22/23, 8:52 AM

Same. Although we have only been married for 33 years. I also keep all the cards my now 86 year old Mom has sent to me, although she just moved to New Jersey to live with me this month. I have cards from both my husbands and my grandmothers too.; 4/22/23, 9:08 AM
wendybar said...: I LOVE that idea michaele!!!; 4/22/23, 9:09 AM
Jim said...: I have to admit that while I'm not a card saver, I was very touched to find in my father's things that I was disposing of after he passed that he'd saved a lot a Father's Day and birthday cards I'd sent over the years. I was nice to find that they'd meant something.; 4/22/23, 9:48 AM
Joe Smith said...: I am much more sentimental about cards than my wife...; 4/22/23, 9:50 AM
lonejustice said...: Hilarious, and oh so true.; 4/22/23, 10:18 AM
mezzrow said...: My wife and I simply exchange the same (perfect) card with one another for our birthdays, and another for the anniversary. She keeps it. I would lose it.

"Here's the card you're going to give me next month. Show me where you're going to put it, in case you forget."

Understanding is the key to love and a happy life.; 4/22/23, 10:24 AM
Wince said...: I kinda have an opposite comedic take.

Looking back, I hope people threw away all my embarrassingly sentimental cards and letters.

And really the only way to know that has been accomplished is for them to die.; 4/22/23, 10:33 AM
Anthony said...: Except at Xmas where I/we have them out for a while as a display, I usually toss 'em right after reading. I've saved one from a friend who died a couple months before turning 100. It was the last one she sent me.; 4/22/23, 10:56 AM
Yancey Ward said...: I keep all of them, just like I keep the letters I have received over the years of my life.; 4/22/23, 11:01 AM
Narr said...: My wife and I save, and re-use, the cutest cards and haven't bought new ones in years. (I don't care about cards or gifts myself, but indulge her.)

Just yesterday she got a box with a card and trinket from some friend of hers in California (Outlander freak). Dumb bunny had sprinkled glitter on everything, much of which ended up on the kitchen floor.

I told my wife to tell her friend to be more considerate next time.; 4/22/23, 11:03 AM
Narr said...: Oh, the skit was pretty 'meh.'; 4/22/23, 11:03 AM
rhhardin said...: Mary Ann Madden had a most unlikely greeting card contest in NY Magazine. The one I remember is

Holy Smoke!
Now you're Pope!
Congrats!; 4/22/23, 11:33 AM
rhhardin said...: I'm pretty sure the book title was "Thank You for the Giant Sea Tortoise"; 4/22/23, 11:35 AM
Free Manure While You Wait! said...: ""Someone gives you a card, but when — exactly when — can you — should you — throw it out?""

In some cases, before opening.; 4/22/23, 12:25 PM
charis said...: Those random piles do accumulate over time. As the only child of an aging (later deceased) parent with an OCD hoarding problem, I was the one who got to clean up. Hundreds of bags of trash and many trips to Goodwill followed. The process took months.

While cleaning up, my attention always focused on anything with handwriting on it, including lots of cards, which were like precious gems in all the debris. Handwriting is so personal, and we write things by hand so seldom any longer.; 4/22/23, 12:44 PM
Known Unknown said...: Twelve minutes.; 4/22/23, 1:39 PM
Quaestor said...: My mother kept every holiday card and greeting card she or the family ever received. There are crates of them in the attic dating back to the Younger Dryas along with a few skeletons of my hominoid ancestors.; 4/22/23, 2:13 PM
Narr said...: Etiquette question.

I just sold some old diamond rings and watches, all inherited from my female relations going back to a grandmother, a maiden aunt, and my mother.

My wife has never cared for diamonds, and never wanted to wear any of these. Should I tell her I sold them?; 4/22/23, 2:47 PM
MadTownGuy said...: My dad's parents saved cards, letters, postcards, etc. received through the years. His aunt and uncle lived for a time in France, and their letters told of life in a small town near Nice. Letters my dad wrote while he was in the Army and correspondence from relatives who were researching family history were also in the trove. I photocopied most of them and when I got a high speed duplex scanner I digitized all I had, and shared copies with as many relatives who had interest. Of course I save all the cards my wife gives me, and she writes dates on them...making it part of our history.; 4/22/23, 3:49 PM
MadTownGuy said...: My dad's parents saved cards, letters, postcards, etc. received through the years. His aunt and uncle lived for a time in France, and their letters told of life in a small town near Nice. Letters my dad wrote while he was in the Army and correspondence from relatives who were researching family history were also in the trove. I photocopied most of them and when I got a high speed duplex scanner I digitized all I had, and shared copies with as many relatives who had interest. Of course I save all the cards my wife gives me, and she writes dates on them...making it part of our history.; 4/22/23, 3:49 PM
Ellie said...: My daughter-in-law owns a card shop. I am not one of her best customers.; 4/22/23, 4:08 PM
Old and slow said...: I save letters. Cards are mere filler and they go in the trash.; 4/23/23, 8:19 AM