The Office Card

I previously worked in a small office where for everyone’s birthday or special occasion, someone would buy a cheap card from the building sandwich/gift shop and circulate the card for everyone would say something meaningless and sign their name. No one really wrote anything personal because they knew that others would see the card, so everyone wrote something generic like “happy birthday”.

As this tradition went on for years, the messages remained the same, until one year some prankster just kept their card from the previous year and recirculated to same card to save everyone the trouble of writing their name and a meaningless “happy birthday” again. It was actually a little funny. Then the next year, the prankster would write on the back of the card (where the manufacturer’s name and price are located) and would write sarcastic things like: “Obviously we didn’t care enough about you to send the very best because this is not a card from Hallmark. We only cared enough to spend $1.99 on this card for you.”

With the growing sarcasm, the office card tradition stopped one day and I always wondered if things might have been different if we had just cared enough to give the very best. So if you are buying a card, gift or flowers for any occasion don’t cheap out. Be sure to use a coupon code, discount offer or shipping promotion from Hallmark.com.