Secret Lover Collection: Greeting Cards for Cheaters

I thought I had heard it all about infidelity, cheating, low morals, and growing divorce rate in today's society. Then I heard about Secret Lover Collection - a line of greeting cards made specifically for adulterers. Yes, that's right: if you are having an affair, you can now purchase a greeting card for your lover that will exactly reflect your situation.

The cards cover all kinds of occasions and express sad sentiments about having to share your lover with another, having to be apart for holidays, birthdays, etc. One card, for example, is designed specifically for those who cheat at their working place; it features a silhouette of a kissing couple behind a glass office door and says, The weekend apart is finally over... I missed you terribly... You get the picture.

The creator of this line of greeting cards Cathy Gallagher obviously adheres to the words of Roman emperor Vespasian, who declared that "Money does not smell" when he'd taxed public toilets. Ms. Gallagher states pretty much the same with her comment that she is neither a crusader nor an advocate for cheating but only a businesswoman. In other words, she does not condemn and does not condone adultery, she just makes money off of it.

I'm not sure though whether one can have a "neutral" position here. Granted, people will cheat whether these cards exist or not; you are not prompting anyone to commit adultery by selling them. Still, the decision to do so is, to me, rather cynical, even by today's ever-tolerant, all-accepting standards.

It appears that I am not alone in this. Cheating is not widely accepted by the society, it remains one of a few things still considered wrong or even - dare I say the word? - immoral. Some retailers have refused to carry the cards, fearing to offend or lose their customers. It is also unlikely that many people would openly pick such cards off of a card stand in a store. One thing is certain though: the cards have definitely stirred curiosity and attracted attention.

You might wonder why anyone cheating would want to risk discovery (cards can get lost, you know, and find their way into the spouse's hands) and / or leave paper trail for the spouse's lawyer to use in the future divorce case. I suppose those are valid concerns, but, to me, they are secondary. Let the cheaters worry about that. What concerns me is how far will we go with this cold, money-doesn't-stink view on things?