Many years ago I received a card in the mail; I can't tell you if it was a birthday card, a Christmas card, or just a random thinking-of-you card. Those details were lost to the aftermath of what was in the card.
Glitter.
Not just a little glitter glued to the cardstock; no, the person who sent me the card filled it with loose glitter, and I assume laughed at the cleverness of it and the mental image of me opening the card and getting glitter all over myself.
The real problem was that I opened my mail while sitting at my desk, and all that glitter spilled onto my not-old-at-all laptop computer. One that at the time we could barley afford, but I was working on the last draft of my first book and had a deadline, and I was going to school at the same time, so a laptop became more of a necessity than a luxury. And back then, they weren't cheap; the equivalent system now would be three hundred tops, but that one cost us $1200. That was a freaking lot back then.
I opened that card, the glitter went everywhere, including the nether regions of that laptop, and it never worked the same.
Within a few weeks, it just sort of stopped.
I was not amused when I opened the card, not amused as I tried to clean the mess up, not amused as I desperately tried to get it out of the computer, not amused as the computer died. Not once was I amused.
Even if the laptop hadn't been right there and taken the brunt of the glitter bomb, I would not have been amused.
It's not funny, people.
I was reminded of this while poking through the Secret Santa subreddit on Reddit, when someone posted a picture of a card they're sending along with the gift; it's clearly labeled on the envelope that the card contains glitter, which is at least something...but still, I would not be a happy recipient.
Don't be the douche who thinks it's funny. It's not. That glitter gets everywhere, sticks to everything, it hard to clean up, and if you have little kids or pets, there's the additional worry that they'll get into it before it can be cleaned up.
It's one of those things that the mental image is funny but the reality is not. So please...don't.
5 comments:
Well said!
Glitter is just the worst. I put it in my dislikes for the reddit card exchange, but I know there's some d-bag out there who would use that as a REASON to include it.
Or those cute little shape things, like trees, hearts etc. Pain in the patooty!
Or just open all your mail outside or in the garage.
Last Christmas, seven people were in our living room opening gifts that had been sent to us from out of state. Each card that accompanied each gift was filled with tiny shapes that spilled over laps, furniture and carpets. Luckily I was able to hand each person his (or her) own lint roller for cleanup. We have cats, after all, and many lint rollers are a necessity . . .
Someone gave me a lovely box of note cards for Christmas. When I went to use one to write a thank note, I discovered that the cards have little bits of glitter in them. No mention of it on the tin that they came in.
Post a Comment