Dear QRZ Abby's

[KW4MW]

Dear Abby:
Each year my wife and I receive cards for birthdays, Mother's Day, Father's day, etc.

My wife cherishes every card and keeps it displayed for weeks before she finally discards it (sorry) or keeps the better ones in a dresser drawer.

I on the other hand after receving a card will read it thoughly, reflect upon both the message and the messenger, consider the message as being fully acknowledged and will toss the card into the waste bin within a couple of days.

The dilemma is when the wife leaves me a card on the kitchen counter, as she has just done for the past Father's day. It is 3 days old now so to speak. Can I pitch it into the waste bin without incurring her wrath nor violating some breach of card etiquette?

Please tell me, what is the proper holding period for a received greeting card?

[KF0RT]

Dear carded father,

If you know what's good for you, you'll clear out a place in the dresser for these.

As always,
Abby

[w8ob]

Dear Reader, Let the one who displayed it toss it. This way you will come out smelling like a rose. Since most all women have memorys like elephants when it comes to remembering things improperly done or forgotten this will prevent you from hearing about it for the next 20 years or so. Don't ask me how I know this!

[kl7aj]

Being the thifty sort of ham, I simply use some white out, and re-send it as a Mother's Day card the next year.

[AC0H]

Dear Carded,

Tread carefully.
Which is more inconvenient, having to put up with "card clutter" for a few extra days or having to deal with the rath of "she who must be obeyed" if you violate the unwritten (as far as I can tell) etiquette of Hallmark?

[n8yx]

Wouldn't know; haven't bought my XYL a card - or jewelry - or flowers - in years.

On the other hand...I've spent a whole lotta green building two motorcycles for her...and the guns. Let's not even start with the guns.

(Also owe her some sort of VHF/UHF rig due to her passing the Tech exam @ Dayton...woman is getting expen$ive on me...)

[w0aew]

Quote[/b] ]Can I pitch it into the waste bin without incurring her wrath nor violating some breach of card etiquette?

Ask her if she could place the card where it won't get lost so that you can look at it again from time to time as the years pass to preserve these fond memories.

And say this with a perfectly straight face, no alcohol on your breath, and with a steady gaze.

[KA4DPO]

REAL MAN ADVICE FOR REAL MEN!

Toss that sucker right in front to of her and say "What are you lookin at?" Then say something like " Dont' just stand there, go get me a beer". Then go buy a brand new really comfortable sofa cause you'll be spending a lot of nights on it.

Now, go be a man and don't say I told you to do it.

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[k8pg]

DEAR ABBY:
1 HAVE 21 FATHERS DAY CARDS,I CHERISH EVERYONE,TIE THEM UP WITH A RIBBON OR STRING AND PUT THEM WITH YOUR QSL CARD COLLECTION,I LOOK AT ALL I RECEIVED EVERY YR,THE BEST ONES ARE WHEN MY SONS HANDMADE THEM FOR ME http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
DE-K8PG-PAUL-CW LIVES:) http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[n8yx]

Quote[/b] (KA4DPO @ June 20 2006,09:21)]Then go buy a brand new really comfortable sofa cause you'll be spending a lot of nights on it.
Take the l'il woman out for Italian or Greek dinner fare - for that matter, anything containing heavy doses of garlic - and I guarantee that sleeping on the sofa will become the preferred option... http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[WS2L]

Do what you normally do with cards you receive, just toss it to the bottom of the basket where it can't be seen.

[n6hcm]

Quote[/b] (KW4MW @ June 20 2006,08:17)]My wife cherishes every card and keeps it displayed for weeks before she finally discards it (sorry) or keeps the better ones in a dresser drawer.
so put the cards you get in the drawer, too! that way she'll know you thought it was important enough to keep!

[WA4ABM]

Quote[/b] (KW4MW @ June 20 2006,11:17)]Can I pitch it into the waste bin without incurring her wrath nor violating some breach of card etiquette?

Please tell me, what is the proper holding period for a received greeting card?
I feel as you do about cards, but I have found that the wisest thing to do is to leave them laying around a few days, then put them in the dresser drawer a few months, and then discard them.

As mentioned in an earlier post, the ones that are meaningful now are the ones from the children when they were younger. Some (but not all) of those I have kept. I'm not aware of what the "proper etiquette" is. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[kf4vgx]

Now you have to realize your dealing with personal feelings here,a ladies at that.

Lets look at it this way .

As I noticed in your email that your an Amateur radio operator .

So I must ask you ,would you throw out all of your QSL contacts http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif.

Of course not ,but if you keep throwing out your family greeting cards you may come home to find that collection in the "Trash"

Signed DR. Field Good ! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[al2i]

The treatment, coatings and colorings render most greeting cards unsuitable for my wood stove, so I am reluctantly forced to throw them in the trash. It is a waste really. A truly considerate card is hand-written with a grapite pencil on large, heavy, plain, non-toxic cardboard stock.

[WA4ABM]

Good manners and etiquette are based on a concept that's somewhat in disfavor today - being selfless. "Unconsciousness of self," says Miss Emily Post, "is the mental ability to extinguish all thought of one's self - exactly as one turns out the light. Hmmm. You mean put the other fellow first occasionally? Now there's a novel idea...Allowing the other person some comfort, some space, some peace...giving thought to the interests or comfort of the other."

"A first rule for behavior in society," she continues, "is: 'Try to do and say those things only which will be agreeable to others."

[WA4ABM]

Quote[/b] (WA4ABM @ June 20 2006,16:07)]"A first rule for behavior in society," she continues, "is: 'Try to do and say those things only which will be agreeable to others."
Sounds like the QRZ. com forums. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[al2i]

Quote[/b] (WA4ABM @ June 20 2006,13:09)]Quote[/b] (WA4ABM @ June 20 2006,16:07)]"A first rule for behavior in society," she continues, "is: 'Try to do and say those things only which will be agreeable to others."
Sounds like the QRZ. com forums. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Sounds boring. Run.

[k4kyv]

Just leave it lying around somewhere, carefully returned to the obviously opened envelope (so she will know you read it and then went to the effort to safely put it back in the envelope). Just make sure where you left it is somewhere she will consider IN THE WAY, such as on the kitchen table or the bed. You can safely dispose of it after she has moved it to a new location.

[w4rot]

Dear gentle reader,
Torch 'em and plead ignorance.
MoFo and funk tonight,
de Abby

[ai4ep]

I aint really interested in the &^%$ FATHERS DAY or BIRTH DAY card, I just want the signed check inside or the cash money ( prefer pictures of BEN FRANKLIN over smaller demonations )....put money in safe place and burn the card.

Simple and to the point. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[KA9VQF]

After spending real close to 30 years with my woman, about ten of them before we got married, I have a large shoe box full of cards she has given me.

There is also around fifteen years worth of cards that my daughter gave me for the same occasions in this box. They reside in the bottom of a file cabinet in the attic. They usually get there within a week of being given to me.

They are all in their original envelopes, if they came with one, and in chronological order. I put dates on the envelope if necessary.

My favorites are the ones the kid made herself.

I have never slept on the couch {or the attic} over a greeting card. Other things maybe, but not that.

CMA,…? youbetcha

[al2n]

Dear Card Holder,

Approach your wife with caring and compassion. Hand her the card and ask in your best, most caring voice,

"May I exchange this for sex?"

Results may vary, not valid in Alaska, Hawaii, Peurto Rico, and the New York Metro area. See dealer for details, offer good while supplies last.

[ac4ut]

Quote[/b] (kl7aj @ June 20 2006,08:30)]Being the thifty sort of ham, I simply use some white out, and re-send it as a Mother's Day card the next year.
You are not only frugal but a classy guy. I mean going to the trouble to use white-out. I just ink out the old names.

Ok,seriously what if something terrible happens to the giver of the card?
Do you want the cards for future memories and reflection? Consider this possibilty and then form a conclusion.
BTW:I keep mine.

[N6BOA]

Do what my husband does - don't buy cards for her, after a while, she'll stop getting them for you. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[n0jaa]

I have a folder in my file cabinet where I keep cards special to me (family, friends, etc.). Some of these cards I have had for years and once in a while I will get one out to look at it.

For Christmas cards I generally keep them for one year until the next season, then I throw out the ones that just have a signature or brief sentiment on them, but I keep the cards that have letters or notes written in them.

Keep your cards. Make a file folder to put them in. There are a lot of memories contained in those cards, but once you throw a card away, the memories associated with that card can never be retrieved.

[WN4M]

Send her a QSL card, and see if you get one back.

One year, I sent my ex-wife a happy divorce card. She said that was thoughtful, none of her other ex's had ever done that. I told her it was a condolences of what she had lost.

[al2i]

Quote[/b] (N6BOA @ June 21 2006,09:43)]Do what my husband does - don't buy cards for her, after a while, she'll stop getting them for you. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
If you have a wood stove, try the plain-colored cardboard with a plain graphite pencil message. Your husband will thank you for the card and you might even get a solid chunk of dried, split spruce on your birthday in return. That provides lots of warming BTUs.

[KW4MW]

N6BOAQuote[/b] ]Do what my husband does - don't buy cards for her, after a while, she'll stop getting them for you
Ah - but that was my original strategy which netted me the cold shoulder and the lumpy couch in the first place. #So I tried being understanding and sensitive like the articles in the Ladies Home Journal said I should. #Heck, I even took one of their tests and scored miserably, 37 out of 100. #

I have shared raw cookie dough from the fridge with her when she had the blues and I even managed to squeeze out a tear or two for her benefit. #

I blubbered with her when we watched Steel Magnolias and was self-righteously indignant about the plight of women after watching Thelma and Louise. #

I even stopped scratching myself in public and I haven't made the grand kids pull my finger in a long time. #

I pour my beer into a glass instead of drinking from the bottle and I have acquired a 'nose' for fine wines.

I send her flowers on all the right occasions (at least those darned things wither and get thrown out).

I take her to such fine dining spots as Aunt Lulu's Tea Room instead of Bob's Beef n Burgers and pretend that I enjoy sandwiches of cucumbers and watercress on tiny squares of stale Wonder Bread. # #

But the darned card is still here on my desk.

The good news is that we have ordered a new couch, it should be here in 3 - 4 weeks.

IN the mean time . . . . .

[al2i]

OMG Mike, I am ROTFLMAO!!! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[N0KLT]

Quote[/b] (N6BOA @ June 21 2006,10:43)]Do what my husband does - don't buy cards for her, after a while, she'll stop getting them for you. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
I tried that for awhile, all it did was pi** her off and deepened the hints when she gave me my cards. It may work in some households, but not mine.

As for keeping the cards she gives me, I set all cards I get, from her or anyone else either on the table or a shelf nearby in a sort of display and then she takes them down and does something with them, I am not real sure what. Once the card is opened and read and admired, it becomes so much cardboard/paper. The thought counts, the card doesn't once it is read.

[N6BOA]

Quote[/b] (KW4MW @ June 21 2006,12:22)]N6BOAQuote[/b] ]Do what my husband does - don't buy cards for her, after a while, she'll stop getting them for you
Ah - but that was my original strategy which netted me the cold shoulder and the lumpy couch in the first place. #So I tried being understanding and sensitive like the articles in the Ladies Home Journal said I should. #Heck, I even took one of their tests and scored miserably, 37 out of 100. #

I have shared raw cookie dough from the fridge with her when she had the blues and I even managed to squeeze out a tear or two for her benefit. #

I blubbered with her when we watched Steel Magnolias and was self-righteously indignant about the plight of women after watching Thelma and Louise. #

I even stopped scratching myself in public and I haven't made the grand kids pull my finger in a long time. #

I pour my beer into a glass instead of drinking from the bottle and I have acquired a 'nose' for fine wines.

I send her flowers on all the right occasions (at least those darned things wither and get thrown out).

I take her to such fine dining spots as Aunt Lulu's Tea Room instead of Bob's Beef n Burgers and pretend that I enjoy sandwiches of cucumbers and watercress on tiny squares of stale Wonder Bread. # #

But the darned card is still here on my desk.

The good news is that we have ordered a new couch, it should be here in 3 - 4 weeks.

IN the mean time . . . . .
Hmmm...you're on your own here. Let's face it, the XX and the XYs have little in common. Better celebrate the differences rather than fight them. I used to give my husband cards a lot and not just for special days. He would also toss 'em out (like you) and he rarely, if ever, would reciprocate. I never gave him the cold shoulder or sent him to the dog house. I just stopped giving him cards and gifts. He asked me one day why I was no longer giving him cards. He said he loved getting them. "So would I" I said, "But I don't know that that's like!" That was that. We don't exchange. No problem - I buy what I want, he does the same, and a tree is saved! LOL http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[kf4vgx]

Quote[/b] (KW4MW @ June 20 2006,13:22)]N6BOAQuote[/b] ]Do what my husband does - don't buy cards for her, after a while, she'll stop getting them for you
Ah - but that was my original strategy which netted me the cold shoulder and the lumpy couch in the first place. #So I tried being understanding and sensitive like the articles in the Ladies Home Journal said I should. #Heck, I even took one of their tests and scored miserably, 37 out of 100. #

I have shared raw cookie dough from the fridge with her when she had the blues and I even managed to squeeze out a tear or two for her benefit. #

I blubbered with her when we watched Steel Magnolias and was self-righteously indignant about the plight of women after watching Thelma and Louise. #

I even stopped scratching myself in public and I haven't made the grand kids pull my finger in a long time. #

I pour my beer into a glass instead of drinking from the bottle and I have acquired a 'nose' for fine wines.

I send her flowers on all the right occasions (at least those darned things wither and get thrown out).

I take her to such fine dining spots as Aunt Lulu's Tea Room instead of Bob's Beef n Burgers and pretend that I enjoy sandwiches of cucumbers and watercress on tiny squares of stale Wonder Bread. # #

But the darned card is still here on my desk.

The good news is that we have ordered a new couch, it should be here in 3 - 4 weeks.

IN the mean time . . . . .
Good http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif .

Real Good ! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[W5HTW]

Hang loose. After the wife leaves for good, you can take all those *@^$# cards and line the kitty litter boxes with them.

Ed

[KF0RT]

Quote[/b] (KW4MW @ June 21 2006,13:22)]N6BOAQuote[/b] ]Do what my husband does - don't buy cards for her, after a while, she'll stop getting them for you
Ah - but that was my original strategy which netted me the cold shoulder and the lumpy couch in the first place. So I tried being understanding and sensitive like the articles in the Ladies Home Journal said I should. Heck, I even took one of their tests and scored miserably, 37 out of 100.

I have shared raw cookie dough from the fridge with her when she had the blues and I even managed to squeeze out a tear or two for her benefit.

I blubbered with her when we watched Steel Magnolias and was self-righteously indignant about the plight of women after watching Thelma and Louise.

I even stopped scratching myself in public and I haven't made the grand kids pull my finger in a long time.

I pour my beer into a glass instead of drinking from the bottle and I have acquired a 'nose' for fine wines.

I send her flowers on all the right occasions (at least those darned things wither and get thrown out).

I take her to such fine dining spots as Aunt Lulu's Tea Room instead of Bob's Beef n Burgers and pretend that I enjoy sandwiches of cucumbers and watercress on tiny squares of stale Wonder Bread.

But the darned card is still here on my desk.

The good news is that we have ordered a new couch, it should be here in 3 - 4 weeks.

IN the mean time . . . . .
Dang Mike... You're "whipped." http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

I still think the right answer is to just save the card. Won't kill ya, and it's not like it's taking up a space in the garage. Start a collection.

Cheap, cheap, cheap brownie points.

73, Rob

[WA5KRP]

Quote[/b] (KW4MW @ June 20 2006,10:17)]Can I pitch it into the waste bin without incurring her wrath nor violating some breach of card etiquette?

Please tell me, what is the proper holding period for a received greeting card?
Once you've read it, it's ready for the shredder.


Out of sight, out of mind. But if confronted: "It was next to my chair in the den last time I saw it. Don't tell me it got thrown away!"




Abby

[KW4MW]

KF0RTQuote[/b] ]Dang Mike... #You're "whipped." #

Hey, I resemble that remark.