Don’t Make Me Throw Away Your Christmas Card
The Federalist,
by
Eddie Scarry
Original Article
Posted By: earlybird,
12/1/2022 6:55:21 PM
We probably don’t know each other so I’m not expecting to receive a Christmas greeting card. But if you planned on sending one anyway, be sure, at minimum, to make it out to me and sign your name in handwriting. Otherwise it’s immediately going in the trash.
I’m not joking. Unsigned, non-personalized greeting cards are as meaningful to me as a mailed offer for new auto insurance.(snip)
I’m not one of those miserable liberals who hates Christmas and everything else that’s pleasant. Christmas is truly my favorite time of year. And each season, I go to Georgetown in Washington, D.C., to buy very cute, very expensive holiday greeting cards and decorative stickers
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Sully 12/1/2022 7:14:21 PM (No. 1346914)
What's wrong with published Christmas cards? I make ours myself on the puter every year from the same template and print it on card stock/laser printer. Front cover has some picture of the Holy Family. Inside is a Christmas greeting and another Christmas picture, maybe of Kneeling Santa or St. Joseph. Or whatever. It is just to keep in touch!
The Author sounds a little brittle.
Lighten up, Francis.
8 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Enoch Powell 12/1/2022 7:25:40 PM (No. 1346921)
This curmudgeon should be grateful he receives any cards at all. Printed, faxed, home made... I'm happy to receive all.
11 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Proud Texan 12/1/2022 7:27:32 PM (No. 1346922)
I read the first 2 paragraphs or so and decided the reason he wants others to personally write a message is that he knows he really isn't worth the effort but just wants people to make him feel better. If someone takes the time to get a card, put it in an envelope and spend the money for postage to get it to you, You should a least appreciate the effort.
But then he likes "cute, expensive" cards from "Georgetown" and doesn't need to own a car. He already lives in a totally different world than most of us.
7 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
NorthernDog 12/1/2022 8:43:20 PM (No. 1346956)
When I was a kid we got dozens and dozens of Christmas cards which we liked to browse through during the holidays. At the time a stamp was barely 10 ¢. Now it's 60 ¢ on its way to 63 ¢ next year. The cost of postage probably discourages people from sending many Christmas cards anymore.
6 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Aubreyesque 12/1/2022 8:58:46 PM (No. 1346964)
Meh...Im kind of with this author: I get cards from people who wouldnt give me the time of day during the rest of the year in spite of my best efforts to keep in touch. Why pretend they mean anything they put in that card, regardless if its handwritten or printed, when the rest of they year they make it obvious they dont think about you? The best I can do with cards like that is use them in crafts.
6 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
chumley 12/1/2022 9:15:01 PM (No. 1346975)
I am grateful to be thought of. I dont require anything and I dont expect anything. Every card I get is a blessing and is accepted as such. Dont be such a whiner.
9 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Connor 12/1/2022 9:16:29 PM (No. 1346976)
I am with the author. My boss used to send a card with a picture of his two stupid kids. No message, no signature. Why on earth would he think we are interested in his kids?
8 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Flyball Dogs 12/1/2022 9:33:09 PM (No. 1346982)
I’m with Eddie.
4 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Sanddollar 12/1/2022 9:39:33 PM (No. 1346984)
I agree with Eddie too. You could at least sign your name in ink. There is nothing thoughtful or caring about cards like this.
7 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Timber Queen 12/1/2022 10:04:03 PM (No. 1346990)
I'm with Eddie on the family photo cards; where its just the photos and everything is professionally printed and no personal signature. Nothing denoting Christ's birth. The envelope with printed stickers for the addressee and return address. No personal writing at all. It just seems so cold to me. My reaction is, blah...and that's for my sisters, nieces and nephews. The warmth factor is zero.
I send religious cards, which are getting harder and harder to find in retail stores. TK types up a humorous letter telling of our homestead adventures during the past year. Inside the card I write a personal note to each of our family members and friends. I think celebrating Christmas should be personal. I hope to set an example, but more and more folks seem to go for convenience these days and the personal connection - the reason for cards - is being lost more each year. Soon it will just be emails.
10 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
SweetPea3 12/2/2022 2:26:05 AM (No. 1347067)
I am glad to get all cards. I go through them and save the ones with light backgrounds that will allow me to write on them. I cut off the backs of the cards and use the fronts as labels on my Christmas gifts. A hole punch allows me to lace 5hrough a ribbon for odd shaped gifts. Sure beats buying those stupid little peel n stick labels that give me writers cramp and fall off anyhow. Festive, and they get a second use before going into the landfill.
6 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Msquared112 12/2/2022 6:21:34 AM (No. 1347126)
Worse than the unsigned cards or pre-printed ones are the lengthy “this is what happened in my family this year” letters. If you’re not close enough with the recipient to keep them apprised during the whole year, you’re not close enough to bore them into insensibility with your self-absorbed letters about who got accepted to what college, who got a new job, who had a baby, where you went and what you ate on your cruise, etc, etc, ad nauseam.
I love getting signed cards from my friends but have always thought of those awful letters as being held hostage while my toenails are being pulled out. Please, cease and desist unless you are wildly creative and a great writer.
1 person likes this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Venturer 12/2/2022 7:36:03 AM (No. 1347169)
We get ours at Family Dollar or the Dollar Tree or else buy them when they go on sale after Christmas and save them for next year..
Christmas cards are a remembrance from friends and family. I appreciate every one I get because i know that person is thinking of me. It isn't the expense of the card it's the thought.
4 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
udanja99 12/2/2022 9:36:04 AM (No. 1347276)
I’m with #12. I never read those letters but my husband does. If there is anything truly noteworthy in them, he’ll tell me about it.
1 person likes this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
MDConservative 12/2/2022 5:07:47 PM (No. 1347597)
"Eddie Scarry is the D.C. columnist at The Federalist and author of 'Liberal Misery: How the Hateful Left Sucks Joy Out of Everything and Everyone.'"
Reading this, I can only conclude Mr. Scarry is a liberal. Mr. Scarry claims two dozen friends and family to whom he sends his precious notes. Not surprising. #1 is spot on.
0 people like this.
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For decades our first card arrives from the same school friend. It arrived today. Probably sent to hundreds of friends and miscellaeous cronies. Family photos in interesting (to them) places. Printed signature. Printed address label stuck on the front. The only thing missing? A printed letter telling one and all of their wonderfulness. Bah, humbug...