Yesterday, I found myself sitting down and writing out a congratulations-on-the-baby card. This action in itself is something of a new phenomenon, one that no doubt in the near future will become a regular occurrence, but when I got to the end of the card, I didn’t know how to sign it. I yelled out to my partner if he wanted to sign it “love” but he said no, but to instead write “Best Wishes”. This got me thinking; what is the appropriate way to sign things?
On the same day, I was also writing out a wedding card (not to the same couple but perhaps Hallmark could look into that; congratulations on the nuptials and the gift from Mr Stalk!) but this time it was for close friends, so the obvious way to sign the card would be with “love.” But the baby card people are friends of my partner that although he has known for years, they weren’t close enough to state love. Or is that a male thing?
This all reminded me of an episode of Sex and the City when Samantha is dating her boss Richard and he is showering her with extravagant gifts, but signing “Best, Richard” on the cards. It’s not exactly what you would want written on a card from someone who you are currently attached to, but until those three gargantuan words, “I love you” are spoken, best or from seems to be the safe option.
I was faced with another signing dilemma the other day when I wrote in a work colleague’s all-the-best-for-the-future card. I liked her and enjoyed our time working together, but wasn’t friendly enough to write love but thought “from” was too cold. I looked at what other people had written and some had written nothing at all but a heart followed by their name. Undecided, I simply signed my name with a smiley face. I thought I had ticked the friendly but not too friendly box without being distant. After being happy with my choice, I just hoped she could read my writing.
When applying for a job, we sign, “Yours sincerely”, “Yours truly” or “Respectively yours”. We don’t know the person we are writing too, sometimes you don’t even have a name, but you don’t want to come across as too friendly or un- professional. You want to impress. When hundreds of resumes and cover letters all sound and look the same (with a lot of creative license no doubt) you want to be remembered, but for the right reasons.
Email etiquette has added a whole new level of what is polite and over-friendly. The standard signing off for a work email is “Kind Regards”. If you are familiar with the person or are replying to an email conversation, the best response would be simply just to sign off with “Regards” followed by your name. But with friends and family you could reply with love and xoxo’s and “hope this finds you well”, depending on how friendly/close you are with them. You wouldn’t sign off with “from” like you would a letter. But emails can get complicated when the format can be far more casual and you don’t want the person to get the wrong impression.
Have you have ever had a situation where you have signed “love” and the other person has felt weird about it? This could have been a friend, potential partner or accidently a work colleague. Have you been at the receiving end of an awkward signing? Let me know your thoughts and the different ways you sign.
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