Are "thank you" notes a thing of the past

[sasvermont]

I've always sent thank you notes or made it a point to call the person if I received money in the mail or something for my birthday or christmas. I've never had any huge party or something, so I've never sent thank you notes for that. I do believe it's a nice thoughtful gesture and there is a need for it, guess some people don't feel that way.

You hit the nail on the head, thoughtful gesture. I don't understand why some people, old and young, have decided to stop being thoughtful and in many cases, respectful.

I have a niece who at some point earlier in life had a baby girl. Everyone was thrilled. A girl. I bought that child many, many outfits. Expensive ones, cute ones, sweet ones, trendy nice ones, but not ones sold in Walmart (Disney characters etc.)... and the clothes were on hangers, tags attached, when I went to visit her a few years later. It broke my heart. In one case, I had bought the same outfit in two different sizes. It was a little pink and white striped OshGosh overall dress. I suppose her taste was different, but gosh, not only did I not get thank you notes, the clothes were never put on the child's back. I wish she had just given them away. I am not the only person has happened to. Her own mother had the same problem. Gifts, no notes, never used. Both of us finally stopped buying things for her children, clothes wise. Now I just send cards.

There is much to be said about ungrateful people. To me, they have a personality flaw that will come back to bite them in the butt eventually. It won't just show up when it comes time to send a thank you note. They seem to be self-centered and will probably be that way for the rest of their lives.

I am going to give this a rest now. As you can tell, my feelings have been hurt and I won't be changing my mind about thank you notes any time soon!