We’ve already talked about pick up cards, which allow hopeful folks to get their phone numbers into singles’ hands without having to do any of that annoying and time-wasting conversation and getting to know someone. Now, we’ve found the perfect device for responding to someone who is handing pick up cards out like some hyper-active networker handing cards out at a convention: the rejection card.

While lurking on a Pick Up Artist forum, I saw a link to a website that sells rejection cards. I’m not gonna link the site, as the cards there are blatant advertisements for a PUA program. (PUA stands for "Pick Up Artist;" the seduction community is big on acronyms and initialisms.) Anyway, on the front they show a woman holding up her hand to gesture “stop” along with a rejection message that reads, in part, “Sloooow down, Fabio!” On the back is a checklist of reasons the “future stud muffin” was being rejected on the back. Reasons included: a lame chat up line, poor hygiene issues, disliking how the guy touched her, bad body language and others. The solution, of course, was to visit the pick up artist site to buy yet another “fool-proof program” that would make the guy a pick up god.

Besides the cards above, there are some highly decorative ones being sold by a print shop that specializes in snarky paper goods. The snark ones are actually pretty funny – they simply read “I’m sorry, there is no purpose in getting to know you further; consider this a courtesy card” – but, do these or any other rejection cards have any real world utility? Would you ever hand something like this to someone?

Also, I understand that even digital printing requires a minimum run to be profitable, but, some of these cards can be purchased in sets of a hundred or more. How often is any woman, no matter how attractive, going to need to have a formal option at the ready for fending off unwanted advances?

Finally, what’s wrong with saying, “it’s nice to meet you, but, I haven’t seen my friends in a while, and I’d like to spend the evening catching up with them”? Nobody has an obligation respond favorably to a pick-up, or to continue a conversation with someone who they do not wish to talk to. Rejection, particularly of blatant pick-up style approaches, is not necessarily personal. It’s okay to tell someone that you are not interested. You should be able to use your words, not rely on a (rather bitchy) pre-printed card.