Over the years Etiquetteer has collected a few examples of what might be called Stationery of Bitterness, greeting cards designed to send a negative message. The image above will give you an idea. The screw is a favorite of Etiquetteer's; inside the reader will find engraved the rebus "U 2." Others on the market today are not shy about using profanity.
Products are created to fill a need, and it will surprise no one to learn that people need an outlet for bitter, vengeful feelings. This April, during National Card and Letter Writing Month (so designated by the US Postal Service), Etiquetteer intended to say a few words here and there about the continuing value of handwritten communication, without expecting to discuss what should not be communicated. Bitter and vengeful communication cannot claim the protection of Perfect Propriety. As Etiquetteer has said so often, no one cares how you feel or what you want.
Yet often these feelings must be expressed somehow, expelled from one's person, in order to Move On. Earnest Prayer is sometimes Not Enough. Stationery of Bitterness could help fulfill that role, being used for a Bitter Letter that is then not sent. Abraham Lincoln became well known for "hot letters" he never sent that expressed his anger and helped him cool down to focus on the task at hand. It's not a bad strategy.
While seeing the humor in Stationery of Bitterness ("Can you imagine sending that?!"), Etiquetteer rather wishes such greeting cards were not on the market. Still, if the need arises, find yourself one, "Let there be gall enough in thy ink," as the late William Shakespeare said, and then burn it in the fireplace, dispelling all that negativity into the ether. It will be better for you, for the Object of your Just Wrath, and for Perfect Propriety.