Thank yous in the mail: cards v brief letters

Miss Manners (my personal guide to life & ethics) says thank you cards are a farce and a brief, handwritten note of 3-4 sentences is the only way to do it.

OTOH thank you cards can be...funny? They show you spend money, which is important to some people? They're 'easier'?

Which do you prefer to send & which has more impact to receive?

my mom used to withhold birthday/xmas money until i wrote thank-you notes (the 3-4 sentence kind). in theory i like them a lot better but i rarely know what to say:

"hi aunt x, thanks for the 25 bucks, i will prob use to buy action figures or magic cards. nice seeing you at xmas, have a great year, etc. etc."

i mean it hasn't gotten better with age which is what i figured would happen. replace action figures with records or whiskey and it's still the same.

I don't see why you shouldn't send a card, but that's assuming that you write a note on it, for instance on a blank card or inside the front cover. If you don't write something personal, I guess cards are pretty dumb. I never give cards with birthday presents, because just writing "From Laurel" is stupid on a $3-10 card, depending on whether it's handmade or whatev.

i like to send a thank you card with a brief, handwritten note of 3-4 sentences.

Blank postcard with hand-drawn picture on it. Though, the recipient might think you're 7, which is a-oaky in my book.

""hi aunt x, thanks for the 25 bucks, i will prob use to buy action figures or magic cards. nice seeing you at xmas, have a great year, etc. etc.""

See, that's perfect! That's my format. By sentence.

1. Thanks for thing.
2. I will use the lovely thing in this way.
3. Maybe another note about the thing.
4. Thanks & best wishes.

It is so easy! No one ever be afraid!

You have NO idea how much goddamn mileage you get out of these things.

yeah i guess i get stuck in the trap of wanting each one to be somehow more clever or relevant, but it ain't happening.

Hi, I like money, I'm gonna buy comics, hope you are well! See you soon.

(Though I was told as a kid not to tell the relative that you were gonna fritter away the money they gave on you on frivolous things) (Not that comics are frivolous, and if I had nephews or nieces, I would be very pleased to hear that they were buying comics)

Man, I wld be so depressed if a 10-yr-old wrote me to say he was going to spend his birthday $$$ by depositing it into savings or buying church shoes or something.