The thread about addressing envelopes reminded me of the following incident.
I thought the hellions might enjoy the story.
I worked for a company that designed and hand made custom party invitations and accessories. As part of the service we provided addressing, stuffing and mailing the invitations. We employed several calligraphers and hired only employees who had an artistic bent and were meticulous in execution so each invitation, envelope, place card etc. was perfect.
Each batch of calligraphed envelopes was proof-read by 2 different people to be sure everything was correct. Postage stamps were especially chosen to compliment the theme if it was a theme party, or at least the color scheme of paper and ink, so the whole presentation was as attractive as we could make it. I'm telling you we were obsessive about the details.
We did our usual preparation for this party with beautiful calligraphy and a stamp with predominant colors matching the burgundy and blue color scheme. We were pleased with the look of the invitations and sent them on their way. As was policy we also mailed an invitation to the host.
A couple of days later the hostess called hysterically screaming that she wanted to sue and could not imagine why we had insulted them and essentially ruined the party before it had even happened. She had spent all that money only to be humiliated that the guests would recieve the invitations looking "like that". We were in total shock. They had looked beautiful to us. Big boss finally got her calmed down enough to find out what had made her unhappy. She said "Look at the stamp". Boss told her we had chosen the stamp because the colors were perfect. "She said "Read the stamp." We almost needed a magnifying glass to read it, but sure enough, around the perimiter of the John Paul Jones commerative stamp was the caption "We have not yet begun to fight". Why was this a problem? It was her daughter's engagement party.
