Sifting through the mail can be a chore. Sometimes it’s fun to find a letter personally addressed to you but let’s face it, very few people actually still write letters. Perhaps someone will send a post card bragging about their wonderful vacation in the Bahamas or a random college in Idaho will send a fill in the name letter but for the most part people don’t really send things in the mail. That’s what emails and texts are for.

There is however one exception. Every year, around December, my mailbox fills with holiday greeting cards. Little family portraits smile up at me and cheesy quotes or well wishes decorate the back. Although the gesture is well intended overall the tradition has grown impersonal.

These cards are sent in masses, each one with the same message and photos. Some times the senders are people we have grown out of touch with and a simple “happy holidays” isn’t really the best way to catch up. Occasionally these greeting cards will detail the events of the passing year. Still this leaves little room for personalized messages. If the sender really wanted to exchange stories a phone call would be better suited, and if they don’t care enough to do that then why bother in the first place.

In the occasion that the sender and I are still communicating on a regular basis than I probably don’t need them to waste their money on the printing and shipping of the cards. I know what happened to them over the year and thanks to social media I can keep up with the many hair cuts or growth spurts of the kids, so pictures are unnecessary as well.

As technology connects more and more people everyday, traditions such as holiday greeting cards become pointless. Today’s society has lost the meaning behind letters and greeting cards. Perhaps if the cards were personalized they would carry more value but overall I think people have lost appreciation for such things. It’s not worth writing a personal message to each person but the cookie-cutter cards lack individuality. Holiday greeting cards should be left in the past and those view stubborn family still sending them might as well give up. Their time has come and gone.