[Ice]

I just committed a business card faux-pas and would like to hear your opinion on how to proceed:

Today I ran into a guy I haven't seen in a long time. Some brief background info: I wouldn't consider the guy a friend, but I have a good relationship with him. We went out drinking a couple of times and had a good time. I suspect he is gay, though. But that is not really relevant. The guy now runs an art gallery in New York. I do want to have a good relationship with him, as he knows many people in New York.

Anyway, so I ran into him on the street and we chatted a bit. He then gave me his business card and invited me to come by an art opening at his gallery. For some reason, I took the business card without looking at it and scratched over my chest with it (of course I was wearing a shirt). I don't know why I did this - I have no explanation for it. Really stupid. I was pretty stressed out because I just came out of a meeting, maybe that was the reason. But either way, I know that it was very impolite to handle his business card like this. I'm still at a loss as to why that happened.

Anyway, so this guy gives me this weird look while I do this thing with his business card and I immediately realised that I committed a big faux-pas. I then made a point of looking at the business card and studying it for a couple of seconds just to show that appreciate and value it - but the damage was already done.

What is your opinion, how should I proceed? I'm planning on sending him an email in the next days saying that it was great running into him and that I'm glad to come by his opening. Should I mention something about the business card in the email? Or should I just say something along the lines of that I was pretty stressed out that day because of that meeting and maybe acted a bit weird when I ran into him?

Would be great to hear your opinions.

[The Lizard of Oz]

Nah don't worry about it. If the guy has a sense of humor he won't mind. And if he doesn't, well nothing you can do. If you ever have drinks with him again you can laugh about it at some point.

Here's one thing you should do though: find a way to get through to Larry David and inform him of this event. Because if this doesn't belong on an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, I don't know what does.

"The Business Card"

[RawGod]

If you've lost his goodwill, you won't regain it by contacting him to apologise. Better to seek to make it up to him in the future by some kind of gesture. If he was a client or important business contact I'd send a nice bottle of whisky at Xmas, with no reference to the business card incident. If he's just a casual acquaintance, try to scale that approach down in some way, but chalk it up as a probably lost cause. It's a learning experience.

[CRR]

^^^Agree.

Don't bring it up, and don't beat yourself up over it. You made a minor mistake (even if he did notice, he may not care anyway), live and learn.

Just show up to his opening, I'm sure he'll appreciate it and all will be forgotten.

[Feisbook Control]

Well, you could follow this

up with this

.

[Ice]

Thanks a lot for all the responses.

Ok, I won't bring it up.

But I think I'll just send him a quick email saying that it was great running into him and that I will come by his opening next month - I hadn't seen him for about 1,5 years before I ran into him a couple of days ago.

[Quintus Curtius]

Ice:

I don't think you committed any serious blunders here. Relax.

Yes, it's probably not the most genteel of responses to play with his card like that, but American culture is not as formal about business card etiquette as is, say, Japan.

If you had done this in Japan, I think it might be considered a bit coarse. But here, not so much.

I once read of a good way to handle the receipt of a business card: get it, look at it, turn it over in your hands, and then put it in your wallet or vest pocket if you're wearing a jacket. That's it.

[weambulance]

Serious question... Is this something people would actually get worked up over?

I could see if you took his card and pretended to wipe your ass with it, or something obviously meant as an insult. But it's just a piece of card stock. As long as you kept it, who cares?

I've spent my professional life in blue collar environments (military, mining) so maybe I'm missing some etiquette here.

[Ice]

(08-09-2014 03:33 PM)weambulance Wrote:  

Serious question... Is this something people would actually get worked up over?

I could see if you took his card and pretended to wipe your ass with it, or something obviously meant as an insult. But it's just a piece of card stock. As long as you kept it, who cares?

I've spent my professional life in blue collar environments (military, mining) so maybe I'm missing some etiquette here.

Yeah look, I myself think too that it's quite silly to get worked up about such a thing - I personally wouldn't care at all if someone handled my business card like this. But fact is, there are many people who are very sensitive about things like that. Especially people in the "business world".

It's more a thing of: "Does he get it?" I.e. when they see you handle a business card like this they just assume that you don't have much experience in business, because otherwise you wouldn't do such a thing. Which is kinda true. If you're dealing with high level clients you just cannot do something like this.

[Barry Scrotada]

(08-08-2014 09:10 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  

Here's one thing you should do though: find a way to get through to Larry David and inform him of this event. Because if this doesn't belong on an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, I don't know what does.

"The Business Card"

Except have Larry start absentmindedly picking his teeth with it, to get out a piece of bison burger that's been stuck in there since lunch. He blames Jeff for convincing him to try it.

"Why are we even eating the bison? Aren't they endangered?"