I remember, years ago around Christmas time, running to the mailbox and searching for cards, from family that we hadn’t heard from since the last Christmas card. Sometimes when we opened the card we would find a photograph of the family. We would admire how much so and so had grown, or how much weight ( fill in the blank) had gained/lost, or how good-bad- ugly… well, you get the picture.

This year I got 2 cards in the mail. One was the same card that was sent last year.  Times are changing.

After I retired, but totally unrelated to retirement, I just decided that card giving was a dumb thing to do. I still give cards to my grandchildren but if you aren’t one of the lucky three, don’t stand by the mailbox waiting for an acknowledgment that you have gotten a year older from me. Hear me out on this one, please.

Cards cost a lot now.

Nobody I know spends a lot of time looking at the card that they pulled out of that envelope. What they are looking for is what might be in that card. I have, over the years gotten pretty good at looking surprised at anything that might fall out…

We now live in an electronic age.

One word… social media. I already know how much you have grown, how much weight you have gained/lost/maintained or whatever because your fitbit app has already posted it on Facebook. It’s driving you crazy isn’t it? Go ahead and scratch out social media and scribble in Facebook. The real reason I ditched cards is that I have a smart phone that cost over $1,000, and I need to recoup some of that cash and here is how I’m doing it…

I hope this catches on.

The very first thing you need to do is walk into a store that has great cards. Don’t walk into the Dollar Store and go back to the card section to do this  because, well it just isn’t right. Walmart will work fine but I love the Hallmark store. Anyway locate the card section and find the right card. For the next part, you are going to need a buddy, so if you didn’t bring one with you, you will need to find another shopper who is willing to help. Hold the card that you have chosen and let your buddy take a picture of you holding that card, with your $1,000 smart phone. You say smart phone… I say smart shopper. I think it’s great to have yourself in the picture with the card because is shows that you care. Next open the card up and take one more picture and just that quick, you have shown someone you love how much you care and you have made a sizable down payment on that phone. One last thing… offer to do the same for your new found buddy before you leave.

I know what you are thinking… Why didn’t I think of this? Oh, and don’t forget to send those pics to your lucky person’s phone! Once again, you are very welcome.

ws