We all have little things that annoy us. My pet peeve –well, ONE of them, is when I receive a birthday card or other greeting card from an insurance office, doctor’s office, hospital or any entity with which I don’t have a personal relationship.

When my birthday month rolled around, I braced myself for them–the preprinted, generic, birthday cards from these parties. At least a month out from my birthday last September, I received two cards: one from my insurance company, and another from a credit card company. Sure enough, as my birthday drew nearer, I received other cards.

An insurance agent told me many years ago that a marketing company had promoted the idea of sending birthday, anniversary, and holiday cards to clients as a marketing tool. But every time I open them, I feel aggravated. Using my birthday—a day I actually look forward to—as a marketing tool seems cynical to me, and opportunistic.

I don’t send a birthday card to my credit card company, and certainly not to my insurance agent. In fact, my last interaction with my insurance agent was an email he sent, written all in capital letters, where he demanded that I not get my car insurance from a new agency! So why on earth did I get a birthday card from him? We’re not friends—or even acquaintances. I can’t imagine that if I ran into him at Publix, he would recognize me because I’ve only seen him in passing at his office.

Now maybe you enjoy getting these cards. That’s fine. Maybe you’re annoyed by too-personal questions, a nasally voice, ads on TV, or a know-it-all. You are welcome to those aggravations. When I get these unwelcome missives, I gleefully throw them away—usually after ripping them up into teeny-tiny pieces. I love cards ( as we all do) from actual friends and family. Phone calls are great as are e-cards and text messages with cute birthday gifs. All of those greetings make my day.

Maybe in the future, if companies stop sending them, I’ll miss these cards. And I’ll write a blog post about how much I miss them! But it seems very, very unlikely. In fact, I can’t wait for the next one, so I can cut it up into as many minuscule pieces as possible and grin happily as I throw it away.