Can someone tell me (politely) why my private messages are sitting in my outbox and not in my sent box?

Thanks in advance.

The private messaging system does not work the same as e-mail. When you send a private message to another member that message will stay in your Outbox until it is read by the recipient. When this happens, the message will move from your Outbox to your Sent Messages folder.

AH! Thank you Martin. That explains it.
I'll have to wait and see if they read it.

No probs