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What Do I Do Now?
Expert Etiquette on AWOL Thank You Notes

Dealing with AWOL thank you notesYou give a gift and the recipient doesn't thank you. Jancee Dunn consults the experts about three ways to handle it:

  1. "That's easy: Don't give another one!" says Jack Marshall, president of ProEthics.
  2. "This, to me, is one of the most egregious ethical transgressions. After an objectionable amount of thankless time has passed, send an e-mail that says, 'Hope you're enjoying your cilantro-soy candle/subscription to Peafowl
Quarterly/Clive Owen blow-up doll,'" recommends Faith Salie, host of the public radio show Fair Game from PRI with Faith Salie.
  1. "If you gave the gift to hear thank you, you probably gave it for the wrong reason. Just let it go and remember to say thank you the next time you receive a present," says Pastor Rudy Rasmus of St. John's United Methodist Church in Houston.

To find out what you should do about friends' disastrous wardrobe choices and improper introductions, pick up the September 2007 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine. Subscribe now!