inappropriate holiday greeting cards

jyber209
Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:02:53 +0000

snowball:

I think he would know if they found the card offensive.

I would not be so sure about that. Isn’t it possible that an employee might have the reaction, “My boss sends me tasteless Christmas cards but what can I do?” and the employee keeps it to herself or those close to her rather than openly criticizing her boss?

I myself have an irreverent sense of humor but try to keep it within the family/close friends. I would not send cards that might be considered tasteless in a work environment. Also consider that some employees may feel strongly about “Keep Christ in Christmas” and while I do NOT feel anyone of a different persuasion should feel they need to send religious cards, and my own observation is secular, there is a** wide** range between religious and irreverent/possibly tasteless.



Snowball:

I believe the partner would have preferred a more religious or sappy card

A simple Holiday Greetings with an appreciative note would be appropriate IMO.

Perhaps the partner is even concerned about exposure to claims of harassment. Whether his thinking is paranoid or not, difficult/troublemaking or not, still my reaction is that your H should stay **well within **the bounds of good taste. Those bounds may well vary by individual, whilch is the reason for the “well within.”

You can empathize with your H while still trying to get him to see this from another perspective.