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Legend: Mix-up with Christmas cards results in embarrassing faux pas.
Example: [The Independent, 2000]
Origins: When 
it comes to dealing with our culture's biggest holiday, one can't cut corners without risking disaster, says this legend. Akin to tales of toilet paper rolls discovered in angel food cakes the preparer had fashioned in makeshift pans, and the social dangers entailed in passing off the work of another as one's own culinary doings, the story of the misplaced checks serves to warn us that the shortest route is also the one most fraught with danger.
Gift-giving is an integral part of the holiday season, and one is expected to expend not just money on the endeavor, but time and effort too. To write a check or enclose money in a card is to distill the process down to only one aspect of the tradition, arguably the least important. One, in effect, puts an explicit pricetag on a relationship, making a cold but straightforward assessment of that person's worth in the giver's life. It is for this reason etiquette frowns upon the practice — though the cash might be welcome, the lack of sentiment behind the present is Especially at Christmastime, a gift of cash is seen as an expression of all that's worst of the season: what is supposed to be the joyous, openhearted process of delighting loved ones with treasures secretly longed for is debased into the sterile discharge of a social obligation — one might as well write in the card, "I had to get you something, so this is it." Our legend serves to underscore the importance of making time for the people we value instead of shortchanging them, and it permits no excuses in this regard, not even those of being very busy or very important. As the executive in the story learns when she attempts to cut corners, what (she thought) had been a time-saving act of caring and generosity is received and understood — literally — as the empty gesture it always was. One further element of the tale deserves comment: the sex of the transgressor. Traditionally, during the holidays, our culture stresses activities which are still seen as more a woman's province than a man's. Cooking, decorating, baking, shopping, card and letter-writing, entertaining, and concern for others are at the forefront of the season, and whereas a man who fails to do well with any of these barely provokes comment, a woman is seen as having fallen from grace much more ingloriously if she comes up short with any of them. The busy executive in the story thus has to be a woman for the transgression to be perceived as utterly embarrassing because a man who failed to enclose the checks wouldn't make for nearly as horrifying a tale. Moreover, the story contains an element of punishment for women leaving traditional duties behind in favor of competing in the business world. Working outside the home may cause them to have less time for family and friends, thus legends like this serve to warn women against taking up such lives by pointing out what could be lost or compromised. Another tale that turned up in our inbox a few years later works the same side of the street by using a different mailing
[Collected on the Internet, 2003]
Barbara "bringing home the bakin'" Mikkelson
Catherine, a registered nurse, was unhappy with her job, so she submitted her resignation. She was sure she'd have no trouble finding a new position, because of the nursing shortage in her area. She Finally she received a message from a prospective employer that explained the reason she hadn't heard from anyone else. It read: "Your résumé was not attached as stated. I do, however, want to thank you for the vegetable lasagna recipe." Last updated: 20 December 2004 Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2008 by snopes.com. This material may not be reproduced without permission. snopes and the snopes.com logo are registered service marks of snopes.com.  Sources:
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