CALLING MISS MANNERS

 First off, this whole thing may be a joke or a hoax but, with the way some people are nowadays, I tend to doubt it.

An unnamed couple -- possibly of British origin, from the spelling on the card -- have sent out an RSVP with their wedding announcement which indicates that the more expensive a wedding gift, the better the guest will be fed at the reception.  Pictures of the RSVP card have been circulating.

There are four tiers for meals, depending on the size of the gift:

At the lower end -- the Loving Gift -- persons who give a gift worth up to $250 will be given the option of roast chicken or swordfish.

For a gift worth from $251 to $500 (the Silver Gift), the option is expanded to sliced steack or poached salmon (of course, the roast chicken or swordfish still apply).

From $501 to $1000?  This is the Gold Gift level, with the choice between any of the above or filet mignon or lobster tails.

Then there is the Platinum Gift, worth $1001 to $2500 or more.  Guests at this level can choose from any of the above or a two-pound lobster plus a souvenier champagne goblet.

Vegetarian and kosher meals are available only at the Platinum Gift level, as is the souvenier champagne goblet.

Real or hoax, this exemplifies the tackiness, greed, and shallowness that seems to be (to me, at least) rising around us lately.  Yes, it's always been there in some fashion but now it appears to be reaching reality television levels.

Many years ago, I briefly worked for a boss who had the saying -- popular at the time among some -- hanging in her office:  "He who dies with the most toys, wins."  I found the saying abhorrant and my boss pitiful.  (She was taking night classes in management and one could tell exactly where she was in the curriculum by the edicts she would deliver each week.  **sigh**)

I was never much of one for trite sayings  but there was one going around at the same time that I felt some kiinship to:  "Yesterday is history.  Tomorrow, a mystery.  Today is a gift; that's why they call it the present."

I wonder what level meal that gift would bring?