Now that we are getting to the most stressful part of the holiday season, one is getting anxious. Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noel, Season's Greetings, Feliz Navidad greeting cards have started zipping around the world.
Greeting cards of today are no longer pieces of pre-printed stationery with images of surreal landscapes or snow-laden trees. For instance, a holiday card without an envelope would be trashed as quickly as one of those silly e-cards that would be consigned to the spam folder.
Customised cards are in fashion. A photograph of your smiling children with best wishes for the New Year will do, but such an image imprinted on matt-finished linen paper accented with foil or glitter would score better. Add handwritten notes and you have been given extra credits.
Society seems to have also defined clear rules on how to address people. When would you use casual first names, as against a formal Mr & Mrs? Would the Mrs always lag behind the Mr even if she has the stronger personality than her not-so-better half? Timing is crucial.
If you are that organised, too-early bird you are sending a message along with your greeting that you have nothing better to do than wait for the new year to come by. Too late - and your gesture seems like an afterthought. Right in the middle and you run the risk of your card getting wedged between 10 others and, therefore, not getting a deserved second look.
'Load-shedding' starts towards the end of the season even as frantic senders strapped with leftovers are busy scratching their heads thinking of anybody card-worthy. The first suspicious sign is a card arriving typically a week after you have mailed yours to the other person.
A belated prefix is deviously thrown in as an apologetic cover-up. Cards sent in response to yours never deliver a punch. What do you expect from wimpy cards picked up from an early-January clearance sale? Worse, if your name is misspelled, boldly cross out the sender from the next year's mailing list!
What the ancient Chinese and Egyptians started off as a tradition of hope and cheer has turned into a test of social skills. To beat the stress of the holiday season, this year yours truly is going cheap and uncomplicated. My sentiments are expressed in plain newsprint courtesy this paper. Season's Greetings and Happy Holidays to everyone!
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