JCC Greeting Card Social Etiquette

How long should one wait before throwing out greeting cards? A month? A year?

I mean theoretically, there's slim chance that the senders are likely to remember ever mailing them in the first place....would not that mean that the greeting card's useful life is over, and the card is ready for the trash can/recycling bin directly after the "thank you"?

And what about greeting cards from deceased relatives? Sure "Uncle Bob" may have passed away seven months after sending you a birthday card...but if you were really that close to him, is it really necessary to hold on to that card until your own death, and let that particular greeting card burden fall upon your own survivors?

Or is that now a curse upon them where they must carry the greeting card until their own dying day, unless they are intrepid enough to toss the thing into the fires of Mount Hallmark (presumably after folding it into a sweet card stock airplane) from whence it came?

 

I think you just put them in a shoebox or something

 

2 or 3 days after the event just in case of random visitors then recycle.


Only keep those of special occasions from those who are important to you, always keeping in the back of your mind the fact that you will never ever look at them again

 

Proper etiquette is to not give me a greeting card.

 

if you get a long hand-written note on a card, you might want to keep it, since that's the closest thing to an actual letter many of you will ever receive. I have a shoebox full of love letters from my wife, from a time when people still sent letters to each other. I feel sorry for the people who have no written evidence of romance other than long strings of text messages. Good luck reviewing those when you're in your 70s.

 

Now love letters or heartfelt written notes are a different matter. In this situation, I agree that those should be kept.

 

Well, there are options:

1) older relatives that you are close to and want a personalized memento of: shoebox. You can even decorate it. Star Wars stickers, anyone? Your heirs are going to sell it in a yard sale as an "antique decor" anyway.... for pennies.

2) Display for a few days surrounding the occasion it was sent for then decide to keep/recycle/shred based on if there was a clever note written on the inside.

3) Display only long enough for someone else to recognize that you have displayed it and thus it meant something to you or, even better, make someone else read it. Once you have a witness, you are home free of any obligations. Seniors have figured this trick out.

4) You can do like my sister does:

a) If giver is standing in front of you: open, feign gratefulness, check for cash/gift cards, barely wait until giver is out of sight before disposing in the trash (she doesn't recycle. I know, right? Evil )
or
b) giver is not standing in front of you: rip open quickly, check for cash/gift cards, throw into garbage

5) Make it known to card senders to save the $5.00 that a greeting card costs these days and text you instead.... yes, even grandparents can do that if it means staying in some sort of contact with the grandkids.

 

If Uncle Bob and I were close I would keep it. I only keep cards that have some special meaning to me. Most I get rid off after a week or so.