Christmas cards aren’t what they used to be

The realization came upon me slowly, but I began noticing over the past few days that I wasn’t receiving as many Christmas cards as I’m used to. Sure, the occasional nice card was coming in — like the one signed by all the City council members — but usually, by now, my office is cluttered with them, wall to wall.

I was beginning to think it was because, yet again, I have failed to get around to sending out my own cards.

Yesterday, I got an email from Dr. Kathleen Scherf’s office at TRU. It was a Christmas greeting. An electronic Christmas greeting, to be exact, with an explanation that it was a replacement for the normal seasonal card as part of TRU’s “commitment to a sustainable future.”

Never mind that I couldn’t open the darn thing (my computer seems to freeze up every time I try). It’s the thought that counts.

Not to mention, it’s sure a lot cheaper than buying and mailing out cards. A sign, I figure, of these economic times in which we live. And when it comes to public money, I can find no fault in a public institution like TRU finding ways to economize.

I understand that, but I miss the old paper cards which are, by and large, printed on recycled paper these days, so they’re environmentally and sustainably friendly. But then, there’s the high cost of snail mail. . . .

So many of our traditions are changing and being replaced by new, easier, faster ways of doing things. Makes you kind of nostalgic for the old ways.