Cost of Convenience — That’s the first thing that pops in my mind as I scour through the rows of birthday cards at the grocery store, looking for the perfect words to express my love and appreciation for my loved ones. I found myself yesterday flipping over each card, peeking at the price and using the dollar figure as the deciding factor for my final selection. Is this horrible? Nah — I don’t think so. I feel like we (society) place so much pressure on ourselves to spend a certain amount of money to ensure our sons, daughters, mothers, fathers and significant others know how much we love them.
Photo Credit: Jahzara the Savvy Diva
Do they really measure our love by how much the card cost? I hope not. I definitely know my son doesn’t even read the card in its entirety…he just shakes it as he opens it to see if cash will cascade out of the fold. So why spend so much time searching for the perfect card? Obviously I haven’t discovered the answer, because I stood in the aisle with a handful of cards pondering on the text and cost.
I think the older I get, and the more cards that I have stacked in boxes at home, I realize that not only is the greeting card industry a rip off — especially for writers like me, but it is truly a wasteful gesture for not only our environment (because there are people who just throw them out after the celebration) but it breeds greeting card hoarders…like me who has mountains of shoe boxes filled with cards that I can’t seem to let go. Seriously, if you’re like me, you most likely have shoe boxes of greeting cards that you’ve received over the years from special family and friends. Those same family members and friends are the ones you think will be the ones to help pack up your belongings when you die. You gently tuck their cards inside a shoe box with hopes that your loved ones find an higher appreciation for you as they sift through the ten shoe boxes of anniversary, birthday, graduation, get well soon and just thinking of you cards — and realize their time and money was well spent picking out the perfect card for you.
I love the fact that I can find the perfect card with the perfect summary of emotions enclosed inside of the carefully constructed card-stock…however, if I stop being lazy and just purchase a nice blend of pressed linen card-stock and inscribe my deepest feelings, and draw a crazy collage of flowers and colors on the envelope; the same message will be received…right? But who has that kind of time.
I’m the person who remembers the day before the birthday to pick up the card, and most likely the gift. So for now, I’ll continue flipping the cards over to force the cost to be the deciding factor and select the perfect, well written summary of emotions that I’ll pass to my loved one as my own expressions of love.