Snail Mail Cards

[MiniPocketWorld]

How do you feel about Holiday/Birthday Cards?
Do you still get them in the mailbox?
Do you get them in your email? (Oof that feels like a life time ago to me)

Do you send out physical ones?
Do you send out digital ones?
Do you not do them?
Do you just type out happy x on social media or text messages?

I only do physical cards if I'm giving money. I don't do digital cards but maybe I should reconsider for a friend(do they still exist?). At one time (pre Facebook) digital cards were popular and some were pretty cool to open up in your email. Most were free but sometimes they cost money.
But I mostly just text happy x in text messages and maybe an emoji or two.

 

[Croconaw]

I don't send out or receive physical cards by mail. I feel like that's outdated? Text is much quicker and accomplishes the same thing. I know handwritten can be more meaningful since it takes more time, but in this day and age a text just makes sense.

 

[Soigne]

i just send out a quick message to friends & family for birthdays. i think it's sweet to send cards and things in the mail, but i have had such a nasty time with the postal service that i really don't trust them with anything. safer & quicker to just personally deliver a card if i wanted to go that route! but i don't do that, haha. maybe i will start one day.

 

[Mairmalade]

I love sending physical cards (birthdays, major holidays, thank you cards, letters,) and love receiving them. In my family, we always had a card box we brought out for special occasions to store all the cards received. Granted, it starts to get full, and as lovely as cards are, they're not something I keep forever (besides a few that hold a lot of sentimental value to me).

You just can't beat the initial impact that physical cards have.

 

[Saylor]

I love physical cards! I write to my girlfriend whenever I send her gifts or little trinkets. One of my friends got me the Studio Ghibli postcard set for a birthday one year so I usually use those. I also send letters in gifts to my nieces and nephews, and thank you notes whenever they or other relatives send me something. I usually only write to people who are far away from me, but if I'm giving a gift to someone for the first time sometimes I'll drop in a card too--I gave one to my manager along with his gift for secret santa this year.

I don't receive cards as often as I used to but I've kept all the ones I've gotten. I don't really have a dedicated place for them but often I'll go through my drawer and find a birthday card from middle school or something.

 

[Bluelady]

I don’t send or receive holiday cards or postcards.

Personally, I find season’s greeting cards with pictures of extended family members to be clutter. My conscious won’t let me throw them away because it’s family, but I don’t have a place to put them. As a result, those cards tend to get lost over time.

I do keep birthday cards from my parents, siblings, and niece. I keep them with my important documents.

 

[-Blue-]

Depending on who it is, if I can make time I will call or meet them to depending on what the event is (birthday ect.) I also send letters when I feel it is appropriate. A text is easy sure, but it's also impersonal.

 

[LadyDestani]

I still receive physical birthday and Christmas cards from my mom, in-laws, and aunt and uncle. When they come from my family, they usually include money, but my in-laws are the type who send Christmas cards to everyone they know each year. It's nice to receive them, but I don't hang onto them long. My biggest complaint with physical cards at this point is just the waste, especially when the cards are covered in glitter and other things so I can't recycle them.

I do give out physical cards on occasion myself. If I'm giving someone money or a gift card, I always place it in a physical card. I send my niece and nephews cards sometimes too because it's exciting for them to receive mail. Most of the time, I use blank cards because I like to write my own personalized messages. This year, instead of the usual gift tags, I picked up a pack of small penquin-shaped cards to attach to the kids' gifts and I personalized them with a comment about why I chose their presents or a memory of the last time I saw them.

Otherwise, if I'm meeting up with the person then I will wish them a happy (insert holiday here) when I see them. If not, then I usually send a text with some emojis, a gif, or a photo.

 

[Squidward]

If it's someone I'm not close to I'll send a text, most likely only if they do it first. If it's someone very close then I'll give them a physical card!

 

[Sheando]

I made a friend at work a couple of years ago, and after she moved, we exchanged addresses. I didn't think anything would come of it, but she sent me a long letter, and ever since we've been very slow pen pals. We're both busy, so we only write every couple of months, but it's still pretty fun.

Those are just folded-up pieces of notebook paper in an envelope, though. The only physical greeting cards I buy are for my grandparents, who love getting mail. They're the only people I receive cards from, too. I don't think younger millennials are terribly invested in the greeting card scene.

 

[Xara]

I don’t think I’ve sent a card in the mail since I was a kid. I don’t have relationships with most of my extended family, and I communicate with the ones that I do and all of my friends that live far away virtually and via text, so I don’t have much of a reason to send anything in the mail.

I still receive physical Christmas/Birthday cards, though. My parents almost always get me a physical card for my Birthday, as well as for Christmas. My late grandmother always got me physical cards as well. My mom is getting more into creating digital cards though, so I might not receive physical ones from her for much longer. One of my cousins always mails a Christmas card to my parents and I each year, and she did so this year. I’ll occasionally get Birthday cards in the mail from my dentist’s office, my counsellor etc, but that’s about it nowadays.

I loved getting cards when I was a kid, whether personally or by mail, so I’m kinda bummed that I don’t really get them anymore. I loved receiving mail so much that I used to put a pretend mailbox outside my bedroom door when I was a kid, and I would ask my parents to drop in random “letters” for me. It was usually only my dad who played along, but I still remember how exciting it was to see that someone dropped something in at all, even if it was just a piece of paper with a few words on it. :’)