Pebble & Symbolic Object Etiquette

A pebble offered is a sentence. Receive it as one.

A pebble is rarely just a pebble. The Department of Symbolic Objects offers this guidance so the small stones passing between creatures are given and received with the weight they deserve.

Giving a Pebble

Choose with intention; present without explanation. A pebble offered is a sentence, and you do not need to also say the sentence out loud. If you feel nervous, that is correct. It means it matters.

Receiving a Pebble

Receive gently and keep it, at least for a while. Even a pebble you do not fully understand is a record that someone thought of you. Do not return a Class V (Ceremonial) pebble without an apology and, ideally, soup.

Care & Classification

Log meaningful pebbles within one shift, or one good cry, whichever comes first.
When unsure of a pebble's class, choose the warmer one.
Pocket inventories are private. Audit your own; never another's.
Lost pebbles go to the Bureau of Lost-and-Found Meaning. Tissues provided.

Practice on your own collection at the Adopt-a-Pebble terminal.