"What's a postcard?" my formerly beloved youngest asked as she squinted at the rectangle of cardboard I was holding.
[She's gonna write a book someday: How To Make People Feel 100 Years Old in 5 Seconds Flat]
"It's, um, a picture you send in the mail! And you can write on the back, see?" I said, flipping this apparently archaic piece of correspondence over with my wizened 20th-century hand. "They're on vacation in Hawaii, and they're just saying hi!"
"But they can TEXT you a picture," Susie said, frowning in puzzlement. "Why didn't they just text you something?"
"Well, but this came from Hawaii, isn't that cool? Look at the postmark, it took nine whole days to get here! Gosh, I used to collect these..."
"Nine days? That's dumb - if they texted you a picture, it would get here in a minute. And it wouldn't cost anything," said Susie, shaking her head and proceeding through the door. "That doesn't make any sense."
Yeah, well, it USED to...
Of course she doesn't get it. She has never experienced the delight of receiving letters/cards in the mail. Nor the experience, as an adult, of usually only receiving bills or junk mail and the UTTER delight of finding something personal in the mail (this bit of wisdom will come in time, I assume).
ReplyDeleteA fitting day for this story:
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in Iceland, I sent a postcard to a friend back home. The picture was of a statue of Lief Eriksson given to Iceland by the USA and located near their national cathedral in Reykjavik. The inscription, in part, proclaimed him “discoverer of Vinland”.
On the back I wrote, “Happy Columbus Day!”
ha look up ebay sold items for post cards and show her the ones that sold really high. This will be worth $100 some day!
ReplyDeleteSo great to hear from you. You never disappoint. This is so funny. We just had a kid write a thank you to a friend and he texted Coach to say I CAN'T REMEMBER WHEN I GOT A PIECE OF PERSONAL MAIL.
ReplyDeleteKids today will never know or understand the joy and excitement of receiving a real piece of mail.
ReplyDeleteToo funny! But sad in a way, because we've all become accustomed to instant gratification. You can't hang a text message on the fridge. :p
ReplyDeleteThis is great! When I hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon I mailed myself a postcard from the bottom because the postmark said, “Mailed by Mule.” If I had an opportunity to mail a postcard I wouldn’t even think about the text idea!
ReplyDeleteA postcard was a piece of mail that you didn't want to trouble the local postmaster to steam open.
ReplyDeleteBut I bet you have received many postcards that you threw away before showing Susie - because they were about re-financing your mortgage.
"oooh, look Susie, it's a postcard - and someone could save us money on our mortgage - wait, my cell phone is ringing...."
"you can extend the warranty on your vehicle..."
Bring back post cards, and air mail stationery.
I love postcards, especially ones using old photographs. People seem to love getting them, or else they are feigning enthusiasm. Either way, I keep buying and sending them.
ReplyDeleteWorking for the Post Office, mail lady for (LORD) nearly 19 years, I'd happily deliver a thousand postcards a day than another Amazon package. Somethings spark WAY more joy than the cheezy smile on the box, much less the bill that will inevitably come along with it, I assure you.
ReplyDeleteI sent a postcard to my co worker when we were in San Francisco. She loved it. Her kids thought it was weird.
I sent a postcard to my niece once and she was crying to her mom because she though the post office had taken half her card! Ha! I clearly need to be a better aunt who sends more frequent postcards.
ReplyDeleteYears ago (mebbe 35+), Current used to sell Christmas postcards. I used them a few years because they were charming and adorable, and the postage was a bit cheaper. Nowadays I send actual Christmas because I have moved away from friends and loved ones so I need to include a letter. I wish I'd saved some of those postcards, though.
ReplyDeleteI see I omitted the word "cards" after "actual Christmas". I'm sure you readers figured out what I was trying to say, but I still thought I'd correct that.
ReplyDeleteThat's hilarious! I remember owning a Jukebox and having Kids be amazed that it played Vinyl 45's, they'd never seen such a thing, it wasn't even an Older Model, it was from 1980, which to all of them was Ancient enough.
ReplyDelete