Greetings, Earthling

I tend to like funny cards about
kids, dogs and bodily functions.
 

I have discovered an easy way to cheer myself up – and also feel more organized.

When I have some extra minutes and dollars, I stop by the greeting-card section of whatever store I am in – supermarket, Target, drug store – and buy whatever strikes my fancy.

Here’s the organized part: I now have a drawer full of great cards for whenever I need one for someone.

I tend to like only funny cards. In fact, I totally don’t get the “serious” ones. If you have a serious sentiment to tell someone, wouldn’t you want to write it yourself? (We also have – this was my husband’s idea – a few boxes of blank Crane cards lying around for just that purpose.)

In this article, Hallmark says that while funny is ok for Father’s Day, if you give your mom a funny Mother’s Day card, she’ll cry. I, a mother, totally don’t get that.

Nor do I get when people get sniffy about being sent an email rather than a written card. When KJ Dell‘Antonia wrote about a cool app for iPads that allows you to have a paper card sent to someone in the New York Times “Motherlode” blog, one commenter wrote, “Appalling. I am frankly hurt when I receive an e-card: the person couldn't be bothered to find a piece of paper, envelope, and stamp?” Easy solution to this, I think: don’t send that person any communication of any kind.

Aside from that, though, I like sending cards, electronic or paper. In fact, I once, on impulse, bought a box of cards (maybe because they were purple) and used them to write hello to the first eight people who occurred to me.

That was fun. I should do it again.