Valentine Etiquette

Dear Annette,

Which is worse: not getting any Valentines at work...or getting Valentines at work?

Anxiously,
Be mine…or don't



Dear Mine,

The answer is quite simple. You want as many Valentines as you can possibly get. And you know it.

You want Valentines from peers, from subordinates, from bosses, from real lovers, from imagined lovers, from your mother, from your pet - and if necessary, from yourself. You want your coworkers to think you have an outstandingly well balanced life. You want them to know not only that you brim with self-esteem, but also that someone loves you for it. Wishing it can make it come true.

• Be your own secret admirer.
• Send yourself flowers with no card.
• Send yourself several cards, all different kinds, with the same mysterious postmark.
• Buy some of those little hearts with sayings on them and put them in a tasteful gift tin, to offer your guests.
• Get a friend with a bedroom voice and a thrilling accent to call the office while you're at lunch and have the receptionist put him or her through to your voice mailbox.
• Leave the office right at 5:00 or 5:30 on February 14, and look at your watch as you dash out the door.
• Arrive at work on February 15th with wet hair and a smile on your face.

I often send Valentines in addition to - or even instead of - holiday cards. It gives me and my dog Dickie a few extra weeks to thank all the little people who made the previous year special, and it lets me take inventory of who has written to me. It's also my way of saying:

Peace on Earth and goodwill to MINE.

Stay fabulous,
Annette