December 20, 2011

Greeting Card Monster

Greeting Card Monster has recently been thinking about his own name. He’s worried it doesn’t quite fit him anymore.  This year it seems he has his tentacles in everything.  He’s delivering messages on Facebook and sending Twitter greetings, along with ecards, iPhone videos, and emoticon-filled texts. 

There was a time when the holiday season meant he would be crammed into his corner of a tiny post office, countless cards making their way through his department.  Between slugs of coffee and bites of candy cane, he would whip holiday cards in and out of mailbags, making sure that every single card was headed to the intended recipient.  He really enjoyed those days, filled with the smooth feel of crisp, newly printed cards and the crinkle of a handmade greeting scrawled upon with crayon., Once in a while he might even find a card carved of wood or made from banana leaves. 

Now it all feels like newfangled technology to him.  All these pixels and typefaces.  He has trouble telling what’s what half the time. Although he does still handle a few honest to goodness, actual paper greeting cards, the practice is mostly supported by older ladies and hipsters.  The endless parade of holiday kittens and ironic holiday kittens can sometimes get him down. 

This year the learning curve has been steep; all of the new ways to communicate have kept him busy with instruction manuals and tiny keypads. But finally it seems that the hard work is paying off.  When all the typefaces make sense and the graphics swim into focus, he can see that underneath all of his misunderstanding, these new messages are just as sweet and loving as all the paper ones he used to see.  How wonderful to know the world is still filled with the same love as before, even if it takes fewer stamps to send.


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