It’s better to give then to receive. So, why do we still expect to receive something after giving?
Photo: Flickr/Bunnicula
San Francisco-based writer Laura Turner is absolutely blowing everyone’s minds on Twitter with this simple anecdote from her baby shower.
As everyone who has attended a shower can tell you, they’re almost always stultifyingly dull. Some expecting parents need the help assembling all the baby gear necessary to raise a kid, and some go through it for the fun of tradition, but it seems pretty exhausting to throw a big party just for a new nappy bag.
Then, after everyone finally leaves, you have to clean up, compile a list of who sent what, and get those Thank You cards in the mail before the baby pops out and you forget everything else.
Or do you?
At my baby shower yesterday, one woman said, before I started opening gifts, “Can we give you the gift of no thank-you notes?” And everyone gasped and I DIED and now I’m going to be that lady at every shower I go to.
— Laura Turner (@lkoturner) April 15, 2018
At Turner’s own baby shower, a guest suggested they give her the gift of “no thank you cards”. She wouldn’t have to write a single one. Both the room and the internet gasped in response:
Very good, like WHY haven’t we all thought of this already?
— Laura Turner (@lkoturner) April 15, 2018
Yes! For me, this is a must for new moms. You have far more important things to do in the next year of your life! Please do not send a thank you note for any baby gift I ever give you.
— Bethany HallFitelson (@bfitelson) April 15, 2018
I am still carrying the shame of not having done baby shower thank you notes. My excuse is that I had the shower post-birth, so no one with a functioning adult brain lived at my address. Which is to say: that woman is a hero.
— Irina Dumitrescu (@irinibus) April 15, 2018
This is a genius idea, and it can be applied to any and all gift-giving scenarios. Someone saying, “Thank you,” to your face with a sincere smile should be sufficient to make you feel good about your present. If it doesn’t, it’s because you’ve made the gift more about you than anyone else.
And why drag trees into it? Do you really need to waste the paper? “Thank You” cards are an outdated way of staying connected, from before email, text, Snapchat, Instastories and Facebook allowed us to give each other shoutouts and even public credit for generosity. Be even more generous, and give people their time back.
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