I like how thoughtful people can be, sending cards out and exchanging gifts during the holidays, but I wonder whether it wouldn’t actually be better to donate the money they would have spent on cards and presents to charity. I feel like a curmudgeon when someone gives me a gift or a card and I have nothing to give them back (except for baked goods, which I tend to produce and share frequently), but I prefer to save up that money and donate it to charity instead. Still, I tend to bow to the demands of polite society.
For example, I sponsor a child in Ethiopia. The amount I spend on that per month definitely exceeds what I spend on gifts, but if I felt less societal pressure to give people cards and gifts, I could donate even more money to charities and help them make a difference in the world. Isn’t that more important?
--Curly
2 comments:
It's an interesting dilemma. Just the postage--forget the cards themselves--could have added to the total sums I gave to charities in December. But are holiday e-mail greetings (which would save those funds) "good etiquette"? Among other possible peeves, a high-tech e-card (I received a few through work this year) can take up SO much e-mailbox space. Is it "nice" to dump that on a group of recipients?
I guess I try to comfort myself with some compromises--like, in some cases, including messages in the cards that a donation to such and such charity has been made in the recipient's honor. This is definitely something I'm going to be thinking about for next year's holidays/celebrations.
--Pru
I think as things get more and more electronic, rules for etiquette will change. Also, why not combine holiday greetings with donations in honor of recipients? That's something I like to do, anyway!
--Curly
Post a Comment