E-Cards and Me: It's a Love/Hate Relationship

June 22, 2007 11:14 AM

If I'm going to send a greeting to a friend, it will not be in the format a real live USPS delivered Hallmark but, like so many of us, I'll send an e-card. This because I'm lazy and impatient and wish to avoid the pain of going to a drugstore days in advance of the occasion I'm trying to commemorate.

Getting there is just the beginning: At the drugstore, I'll have to take time to select a card combining the most sincere message with the most heartfelt imagery of, say, beautiful flowers (slightly obscured by that top sheath layer on the card!) or two old wrinkly friends hugging.

Once selected, I've still got to find postage. Why should I buy a whole book's worth if I know I've got loose stamps floating around in a grab bag kitchen drawer somewhere?

I'll probably find a dried-out pen in that same drawer and use it to add my personalized message to the bottom of the greeting card. I'll blot out the 2-3 errors I'll undoubtedly make because my hand now trembles when I have to communicate 'old-fashioned style' (pen on paper) for longer than a few seconds, and as a result, end up disgusted with the ugly mess I'm sending out into the world with my name on it.

And let's be honest: we all appreciate the fact that the USPS delivers mail to and from locations throughout the country, but it's still me who has to deliver this piece of mail into a mailbox. Forget it. I'll send an e-card instead and feel great about the 30 seconds I'm committing to letting a friend know I'm thinking of them during their special time.

As a fair warning, if you're thinking of sending me an e-card, you should know that I rarely even click on the 'View your e-card!' hyperlink, and, if I do, I hope to God I can skip through the animation to read the personalized message at the end.

For me the act of receiving e-cards proves a consistent disappointment. Why? The whole process fails to ignite that certain psychological thrill that, from a very young age, has always accompanied the receipt of real mail delivered to me on my special occasions... There's just NO way a check can be folded up inside one of those e-cards.

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