One Man's Trash

At my grandfather's request, I took a box full of old cards and letters home from his basement and sorted through them to get rid of "junk". I think he's a little overwhelmed at how much stuff there is in that basement and doesn't know what to do with it all. So, home the box came, and sort I did. There are now approximately 1600 greeting cards from about 1950 to present in my trash can outside. I have to say that I felt a little guilty throwing them out, and I now understand why he is at a loss for what to do with all of that well organized clutter in his basement. My grandmother must have saved every single greeting card that she or Grandpa received over the last thirty years. What impresses me is that they were all organized and neatly placed in boxes. These cards were obviously not junk to Grandma. They were symbols of someone's love or appreciation for her, and she kept them because she didn't want to toss out someone's words and feelings for her. And now they are in my trash can. (Grandma, when I see you again, please remember that it was Grandpa who told me to do it, and there's no hitting allowed in Heaven.) So I got to thinking: I have no idea how much a greeting card cost in, say, 1960. Nowadays, they range from $1.50 to $4.50, on average, I would guess. So let's take a fair, mid-range number and use it as a sample cost for all those discarded cards. (Hee, hee.) Let's go with $2.00. (That may be a high price for way back in the day, but keep in mind that some of those cards were way fancy.) 1600 greeting cards, (not an exaggeration, it may be low, actually), at $2.00...we're looking at $3,200.00 in my garbage. My price estimations may be ridiculously off, but we get the idea: are greeting cards a waste? I confess that I have not purchased a greeting card in years, with the exception of needing to mail one with a gift card or a measly amount of cash stuck in it for a sibling living far away or some such thing.
However, I found other things in that box from Grandpa's basement that, without hesitation, survived the trash pile. They were hand-made cards and good, old-fashioned letters. What a treasure it was for me to be able to read letters from my mother to my grandparents telling all about how our family was doing and what us kids were up to. Such a pity that those letters have become extinct in this day of e-mail and text messaging and all this other technology.
I propose an alternative to the money wasting, guilt inducing, clutter causing greeting card...for every holiday, every birthday, and even on an ordinary day, send your loved ones a hand written letter telling them what you love about them, why you appreciate them and that you are glad they are in your life. Those kinds of things are worth keeping because they tell so much more about your life and those you love than does an impersonal card with a hastily signed name at the bottom. That's what I'm going to do. Sorry Hallmark.