I send mail. Not email, although I send plenty of that. But, I send, dead-tree, get-an-envelope-and-a-stamp-and-write-the-address-on-the-outside, snail-mail.
I have a few close friends I send mail to a couple times per year.
But, the ones I really focus on are my grandkids. I send them postcards and other cards, but mostly postcards, when I travel. They seem to enjoy it and it give them a reason to Video Chat me later to say thank you.
I’m in Virginia this week. Naturally, I brought stamps and plan, or rather plannED to send post cards. The problem is I can’t find any.
Archaic items don’t disappear in a flash, they slowly fade away. I’ve never not been able to find post cards. They have been around forever and I assumed they would be around forever.
And believe me, I looked.
I started with the obvious places. CVS drug stores.
Sorry, we don’t carry them. The other CVS I used to work at did, but not this one.
Two other CVS drugstores failed to turn out to be “the other CVS” he referenced.
Walgreens? Nope
What about grocery stores? I hit Publix, and Kroger. Nope.
Book stores. Of course, book stores always have that sort of thing. Barnes & Nobel. Nope.
I tried gas stations? No.
Convenience stores like 7-11. No.
I went to FedEx Office. (I still think of them as Kinkos.)
I don’t know what you mean.
Post cards.
Well, our cards are on that rack there.
Yes, those are greeting cards. I’m looking for post cards. . . You know with a picture on one side and you put a stamp and short message on the other. . .not ringing a bell?
Well, I mean we could print you something like that I suppose.
Let’s call that a hard no</> and move on.
I tried game stores.
I tried second hand book stores. Did you know you can buy a vintage post card for $7? Yeah, that’s not what I had in mind. Post cards are cheap. Less than a dollar.
Dollar stores! No. They never heard of them.
I found myself driving slowly past store fronts scanning through the glass to try to spot the distinctive twirling rack that post cards seem to grow on.
Nothing.
I’m sure they exist somewhere, but I’m not sure I’ll find that place before my plane flight tomorrow.
Of all the things I thought I’d miss because of the rise of the machines, post cards are the ones I will miss the most.
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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