Birthday/Christmas/valentines/first wank cards
Ok, who the hell decided it was "polite" to send some one a sheet of card with a picture on for various arbitary events in life? I'm happy to splash out on a gift, a drink or what have you for people I care about, but let's face it, if I buy a card, it's just going to get a quick glance, a mental tick next to my name on someones checklist of who's got them a card, then it's straight in the bin.

Really, who keeps hold of the cards, even the "funny" ones get at best, a short chuckle, then are left as some sort of display of popularity untill an acceptable amount of time has passed, then they are chucked out, hopefully recycled to come back again for some outher none event.

I text people happy birthday, put a message on facebook, maybe phone or attend some party, usualy lugging a token gift, so why splash out on a card? extras waste of money, hard on the environment and is clearly an invention to squeeze extra money from your pockets. Why must all subscribe to the notion that we must buy them?

Sorry if that turned into a rant, and before any smart arses make the joke, I do get cards, I'm not bitter!
(Mong goose, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 18:06, 9 replies)

i do keep cards
some of the nicer ones will have the pictures cut out, threaded with ribbon and turned into christmas decorations.
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Thu 30 Sep 2010, 18:15, closed)

I only keep cards
if what's written in them by the sender is worth keeping. The card itself is pretty much unimportant - I'd rather have 30p charity cards than £3.99 popup sparkly ones.
( Fronds are waving gently on, Mon 4 Oct 2010, 0:39, closed)

I might just
buy you a voucher to use at moonpig.com and send it with a nice 'Saw this and thought of you card'...

or would that be rubbing salt into the clearly very recent wound?
( number5 has been fighting tramps and losing., Thu 30 Sep 2010, 18:43, closed)

We have
the exact same views on this subject, but try explaining that to Mrs 44 everytime she doesn't get a card and has a moan at me, regardless of how many or how much her presents cost, I'll never understand it. Personally, I think it's just a complete and utter waste of tree
(TaZ44, Fri 1 Oct 2010, 7:46, closed)

Scratch Cards
I tend to give people scratch cards, at least there is a slim chance of getting money from it.

Brother got £50 last year.
(TWith2Sugars, Fri 1 Oct 2010, 8:58, closed)

I hate it too
I saw a card shop recently that had a massive poster in the window saying that they sell cards for your child's first days at nursery school, first school, middle school, high school, college and university... that's just taking the piss, especially the nursery one, how many nursery-age kids can read? They'll just try and eat the bloody card, it's probably got "Not suitable for children under 36 months" written on the back anyway.
My other half's family are totally convinced by this shit. Every time he sees his mum, she's nagging him to send cards to one of his many relatives for every little occasion in their lives. Soon after I saw the "first days" poster, I overheard her telling him to get a "first day at school" card for a distant step-relative he's never even met and who probably doesn't know who he is either.
Phone calls, presents, home-made cards and "blank for your own message" cards aren't good enough for this family; no, he has to buy a card and it has to be especially for that relative/occasion. "Merry Christmas" cards aren't good enough for his parents any more; we have to send "Merry Christmas Mum & Dad From Your Son & His Girlfriend" cards (I didn't even know they existed but apparently they do). We recently had to get a card for his great-grandmother's 92nd birthday, we got a regular "Happy Birthday" card and only just got away with it by keeping it hidden from his parents' view as we gave it to her, but his sister actually managed to find a "Happy 92nd Birthday Great-Gran" card somewhere (she had to - the way her parents bully her, she'd have got a bollocking if she'd sent a regular card).
When I was a kid, I was always making cards and my family seemed to like it. When I did buy them, they didn't seem to care if I added the word "Grand" to a "Mother's Day" card because the local shop didn't have "Grandparents' Day" cards. My boyfriend's lot get seriously offended if any of their kids make cards ("You stingy bastard, don't you love me enough to spend money on me?" ...yeah, never mind the expensive gift the kid just got you) or adapt ready-made ones ("Couldn't you be arsed to find the right one?").
I honestly hate to say this sort of thing but every time they complain about lacking money I find it harder and harder to feel sorry for them. Apologies for length.
(MC Toffeehammer, Sun 3 Oct 2010, 11:40, closed)

"Merry Christmas Mum & Dad From Your Son & His Girlfriend" card
Bleeeugh. Exactly the kind of crap my ex-girlfriend bought.

I remember once buying a box of 40-odd Xmas cards for a couple of quid, thinking it would do us both for work, family, friends etc, then being frogmarched by her to Clintons to spend 40 bastard quid on about 8 "special" cards "for her family".
(WillI'mNot logs in twice a year, every year, Mon 4 Oct 2010, 0:37, closed)

I always thought it was because...
...people are too lazy to write letters anymore. It's not been long since my birthday, but the nicest post I received was a letter from my grandad.
( TheAlmightyBeev, Sun 3 Oct 2010, 19:35, closed)

Agreed
I feel it's worth much more if you spend the money you would shell out for a card on a phone call instead - it's much more personal and it shows you care more.

Of course, try telling that to my mum...
(Heggy, Wed 6 Oct 2010, 4:53, closed)