The combination of the post office shortening their delivery week, the evolution of email and texts being utilized to cover every communication, my mailboxes have overflowed with comments.
The conversation below was between my sister-in-law and her five-year-old son. Aidan is wise beyond his years.
Aidan
"What do people do with cards they get in the mail? Do they throw them out?"
Aidan’s Mother
"Sometimes, or they save them in a special box or make decorations out of them."
Aidan
"Why don't we get more cards for birthday and special days?"
Aidan’s Mother
"We need to send more cards out so people think of us. And sometimes people send e-mail cards or call."
Aidan
"E-mail cards are boring."
And as they say “out of the mouths of babes.”
There is a segment of the population that purposefully, on principle, deletes e-cards without reading them. A friend who falls into this category found that she had obliterated one that contained a $50.00 e-gift card. Whoops! Now she opens them before hitting delete.
Feedback on this issue comes down to the following; the communication being sent to the recipient in an e-card is that the recipient isn’t important enough to be sent a card or note.
And there in lies the rub, the friction and the pain of the e-card is the unintended message - “I am just too busy for anything personal or you aren’t worth the effort.” In fact those that I polled told me that they would rather receive a late card or note that had a personal missive. Remember the adage, “perception is reality?” especially when the receiver wants real words, sent in envelope with a stamp.
There are exceptions. Some folks have a writing phobia and others cannot leave the house easily, others live in different countries and care enough to stay in touch. In my humble opinion those are the only individuals that warrant a get out of jail card.
The rest of you stop making us excuses and send a card or letter. As Aidan says…”don’t be boring.”
No comments:
Post a Comment