The cost of a postage stamp went up on May 12. I fear the US Postal Service will price this small piece of currency right out of the market.
Once a necessity for communication, the stamp is now a decoration on wedding invitations, postcards from far away places, and the rare hand written thank you note.
The letter as a form of communication has gone the way of the telegram. College students lament that they never get any mail. Across this country on college campuses, rows of small square boxes with combination lock dials on the front in student centers are empty except for inter campus announcements and tuition bills. But what do you write in a letter to a daughter in college when email and cell phones keep us in close touch? A letter is quickly old news.
Worst of all, letters are not ecological. I was horrified to hear someone say that Christmas cards are bad for the environment. There’s concern about the use of all that paper and all those trucks and planes that are needed to deliver them. An E card with music and dancing reindeer could easily replace those red and green envelopes that arrive in our mailboxes each December.
I recycle. I take my own bags to the grocery store and never ask for plastic. I use cloth napkins at dinner and drive a hybrid car. But, as long as I can afford the stamps, I will never stop sending Christmas cards. They are the only personal letters left that actually arrive by “snail mail!”
I have a friend that I met at a writing conference in New Mexico. She lives nearby so we get together every month to write. We arrange our meeting times on email and occasionally send each other pieces of writing to read. We’ve gotten to be good friends. The other day I found a article I thought she would like and sent it to her in an envelope with a stamp and included a personal note. She called to say she was amazed to realize that although she had known me for over a year, she had never seen my handwriting.
Surprise someone with a handwritten note. I try to send off postcards or short notes to people at random times. I love securing a stamp on the upper right hand corner of the envelope. It keeps my place in the long line of letter writers and gives the US postal service something to do beside deliver catalogs.
4 comments:
That's great, Barb. And think of all those presidential faces sitting in post office drawers that will never get to see the world. Yes, write a friend. They'll be surprised.
Or...mix the media. Create a message and send it on a CD! The new multi-tasking.
Living itself is bad for the environment.
Good job, Barb.
I agree that letters are the place where we tree hugging fools draw the line and say no more.
Not for houses,
not for newspapers,
but yes!
for letters we need paper from trees.
keep 'em coming!
Hear hear! Hurrah for the stamp!
I continue to be a strong supporter of the hand written word. While last year was a write off, I have been (in the past), a staunch supporter of the Christmas card and handwritten note.
There's nothing quite like the feel of putting a good pen to a nice, heavy, cotton fiber paper (I favor Cranes) and engaging the transmission that connects the brain to the fine motor muscles in the fingers - the ones that control the sideways motion, not just the up and down ones.
Many letters were written from Sarah to me while I was trying to win her (and win her back), even though we lived close by and saw each other frequently.
It's such a gift to receive a piece of personal mail with its predictable format - stamp in the upper right, address front and center, gummed flap in the back for access. No Tiffany blue box evoked more of a sense of elation and anticipation.
If it's your name on top of the address block, it feels like the joy of Christmas. If someone else's it is the jealousy of seeing a sibling's name on a present bigger than yours that you feel.
Regardless, if you can avoid the paper cut when you slide your finger under the flap to break the seal, even the unfolding is a process of discovery as you feel the paper under your own fingers, paper that started out in some far away locale, that the sender herself handled, selected, wrote upon, re-read and folded - just for you.
Gosh, letters! My favorite!
Letters are what got me through Andover- and I saved every one. Emails come and go so quickly and easily that we often forget to print them off and save them. Letters, however, are priceless. It's something in the handwriting that makes them feel rich. Typed letters were never quite the same. I've always saved letters and cards so that I can look back on them and remember. I even saved Ruthie's notorious teacher letter back in fifth grade because I knew that one day I would think it was funny (and I do!).
Thank you for writing this blog.
Post a Comment