Whenever I happen to stop in a Hallmark store, I’m just astounded as to the wide variety of greeting cards on display in there. There are cards for birthdays, wedding anniversaries, bridal showers, engagements, weddings, new babies, job promotions, new jobs, good-byes, graduations, passing a big test, recovering from illness or surgery, sympathy, apology, christenings, baptisms, bar mitzvahs… and that doesn’t even touch the seasonal cards, like Veteran’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas, and so on. All of these cards are there to express the same basic sentiment: that you’re thinking of someone during some special occasion.
Don’t get me wrong, that sentiment is a great thing. It’s wonderful when people take the time to think of each other on important occasions. My trouble is that the sentiment that they express can just as easily be expressed without spending money on a greeting card. It can be written as a letter or on a very inexpensive blank card.
Dispatches From The Front 