Say Goodbye to Greeting Cards | Mark’s Remarks

Up front, I need to tell people who send me cards that this is not a complaint toward them.  I appreciate getting a card.  However,  I must also confess that they don’t last a long time at my house and they are not put away in a drawer so that I may peruse them in my old age.  

Most of the time, they are pitched.

Now, I’ve saved some cards.  Once in awhile, I will find a card that was sent to me by a deceased friend or relative. I stick it in a keepsake box to hang on to it. I don’t know why, but I do.

Now, back to the dirty little admission of throwing cards away.  Yes, unless there is some note of sentiment or even a short letter written in the card, I don’t keep the card.  Even then, the note or letter has to be deemed worthy of archival storage before I save it. I’ll venture to say that many people are the same way.  They don’t want the clutter so they pitch the card.

Have you bought cards lately?  I can’t believe the prices of a nice card, and I refuse to buy them.  I almost always, if I feel a card is necessary, go to the 99 cent section. Michelle buys most of our cards, so I usually don’t see them or purchase them anyway.  I’d even prefer to just have a big box of blank cards and write my own sentiment.

The cards my kids make are cherished, especially when they’ve spent some time on them. Those, I do keep. 

There have been times over the years that I have received a particularly nice card from a student or parent in which they have written heartfelt and encouraging things.  I keep these in the back of my desk drawer and pull them out from time to time, especially when I need a little boost of confidence.  They are reminders that we are doing something right.

I do feel we need to be more intentional about sharing our feelings and letting people know how we feel.  If you are a person who is rather shy or guarded with their feelings, jotting a note or writing a message in a blank, cheap card will suffice. If you are open and unashamed, walk up to a person and say “Happy Birthday.  I’m glad you were born and I’m glad you are in my life,”  or something like that.  Then say, “I just saved a little bit of a tree and you saved me a couple of bucks.”

I like getting photo cards during Christmas. Those are fun.  We usually stick those in a drawer or box so that we can pull them out in late November and use them as reference for this year’s card list.  However, unless they are extra special, even the fancy photo-cards get pitched.

Even though it may seem a little impersonal, people are sending “thank yous” and other types of sentiments via email and Facebook. I have received quite a few text messages that were once reserved for cards.  Maybe it’s cold, but it’s part of our future. It DOES save time, money, and trees.

I’m sure the greeting card industry makes big bucks.  There are people who send a card for every holiday.  I have a sister-in-law whom I respect and care about very much.  She sends cards for obscure holidays. I think she’d send an Arbor Day card if she could find one.

But I’d pitch that one eventually too. Confession is good for the soul.

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Mark Tullis

Mark is a 25-year veteran teacher teaching in Columbia. Originally from Fairfield, Mark is married with four children. He enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with his family, and has been involved in various aspects of professional and community theater for many years and enjoys appearing in local productions. Mark has also written a "slice of life" style column for the Republic-Times since 2007.
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