Birthday/Christmas cards on display at home - are they free for anyone to read?

I think its weird that you think its okay to read other peoples cards.
They are on display because i might like the image on them.
It doesnt mean i want everyone reading them.

Nosey people always going to have excuses for being nosey 😂😂

I mean, if you want someone to read a letter or a card, you actively give it for them to read.

If someone wants you to read, or open or eat something, they will offer it to you. I don't know how anyone would see private cards, or boxes of chocolate etc somewhere in the room and decide they can help themselves.

Is the phone propped on a display stand or something similar that a reasonable human would interpret as "I have left this here in this spot specifically so it can be looked at"? I assume no.

Last try: OP, if you don't want people to read the inside of cards then try envisioning specifically how you would put them out if you did want visitors to feel welcome to read them. Then do something noticeably different with them than that.

We’re humans, not dogs - social interactions should be based on rather more than just spontaneously “reading signals” in the physical environment. Most people bring a pre-programmed set of behavioural guidelines to the table; manners, etiquette, boundaries, awareness of cultural context. And those would tell most people that it’s the picture on display when there is a card on someone else’s mantle piece. The message on the inside was written from one person to another, and if you are neither, then it isn’t for you.

I don't even read my husband or kids Christmas cards or post, it's important to show children healthy boundaries and basic manners from young. Fancy a random deciding to start going through their post.

If there's a voucher with the card, do people also open it to check how much was gifted? 😂 😂

The rudeness is funny, but it's so disrespectful to let people read what information or what was written full stop by a friend, who didn't know it would become "public knowledge" because someone has decided it's fair game to intrude.

I wouldn't read cards put up in someone else's home, I would feel I was intruding a bit. However, if my MIL visits and there are cards up, she does read them all.

@FlockofSquirrels I'm not going to go pull someone's closed photobooks off their bookshelves but if they leave an open book on an entry table then I'll feel welcome to flip through it because putting it out open and in a highly visible space sends different signals about privacy vs invitation to look Yet you wouldn’t look at an unlocked phone sitting next to it?

It would never cross my mind to read someone else's card - they are displayed for them not for visitors.

not a concern for me though as hate cards and never display them.

I wouldn't read other people's cards and I wouldn't expect mine to be read. I had a cleaner who I know read my cards...

this is the funniest thread I've read in ages

in a space typically used for public display
what? my kitchen or my living room? 😂😂

The specifics of where and how the cards are displayed affect whether people feel welcome to look at something
In the privacy of my own home? No, they really don't. They affect how I try not to have the rude people visiting again however.

Imagine having in-laws who barge in and start reading your post.
Cleaners would get sacked if caught rummaging through private post and reading it

You can worship me anytime but only if I’m on display!

It is.

And even if you gave a good argument for why they aren’t the same, it would still be lacking in manners to read them.

That may be so, but people read signals not minds.

This is one of those things where OP can either plug their ears and insist their personal rule/preferences is the only right one and everyone else should just automatically or they can look at whether they're sending signals that are being interpreted differently than they intend. The specifics of where and how the cards are displayed affect whether people feel welcome to look at something, so if OP is finding that guests feel more welcome than intended I would suggest displaying them closed (magnets, pins, ribbon board) and/or shifting them into a less public position.

They're open so they can stand up. It's a bit nosey to read messages to others. In my own home not everything that I leave out is for opening and reading.

Not your question, OP, but how do you square appreciating some cards so much that you keep them to enjoy the lovely pictures, with no longer sending any of your own?

To answer your question, unless immediate family or similar, i don't think it really is OK to read cards. But I have done it myself 🤷🏻‍♀️

They are partially open to allow them to stand up freely, not to make it easier for nosy fuckers to peer round and read the inside 😂

You only took a fragment of my comment so perhaps you missed the part where I specified that I think the manner and place in which is displayed is important. Is the card left open or closed? Is it in an obvious public display spot or in what reasonable people assume to be personal space?

Placing something out standing upright and partly open on a space typically used for public display is going to send visitors different signals than a closed card or a card tucked off into a more private area. I'm not going to go pull someone's closed photobooks off their bookshelves but if they leave an open book on an entry table then I'll feel welcome to flip through it because putting it out open and in a highly visible space sends different signals about privacy vs invitation to look.

You had no idea it's rude to read a card that was not addressed to you, without expressly being invited to? Seriously? 😂

Sometimes people have a table where guests put presents at birthdays or weddings, so technically they're "on display", do the CF from here open the presents to check what's inside the box too? 😂😂

if you had normal guests with normal manners, you wouldn't need to do that.

It's not normal for people to start going through people's post, it's really not 😂

because those things aren't intentionally displayed for others to view.

but they are NOT displayed for other to read inside? What makes you think they are?

It would already be rude to ask if you can read the cards, because you put the host on the spot and they might not dare saying no.

At best, you wait until they invite you to read, you don't take it upon yourself! If people don't tell you that you can read them, take the hint!

So your boss, your GP, your child's headteacher has Christmas cards in their office, you just walk over, open them and read them do you? 😂

I've never know people that rude they would rummage and read your cards, we know about CF but to be so proud of it? It's hilarious.

Thanks for being normal.

Do you regularly read mail that’s been sent to others?

Let’s all worship you.