DEAR ABBY: What do you think of receiving a thank-you for a wedding gift and being told, "Your generous gift has been donated to our favorite charity"?
I realize once a gift is given it's the recipient's to use or dispose of as he or she wishes. However, I would have preferred to have been told beforehand that the wedding was to be a "charity fund-raiser," because my gift was chosen especially for the bride and groom. -- MIFFED IN NEW JERSEY
DEAR MIFFED: The couple who received the gift were a little too truthful. To inform someone that his or her gift wasn't worthy of keeping implied that it was useless or tasteless. A simple "Thank you for the beautiful ( ) and for your generosity" would have been much kinder than the note you received.