Is your mail E-mail?

When was the last time that you received a real letter in the mail? Perhaps members of the youngest generation will never experience this archaic phenomenon. I still feel a special excitement when I see a neat stack of letters or cards addressed to me. I love to open the envelope and reveal the words that were handwritten just for me by a friend or family member. However, I find all too often that the birthday cards are merely signed with the person’s name and that letters are all too often just bills. Has the art of the written word died with the invention of email and social networking sites? I am appalled by the over use of acronyms and non-words like “u r” and “4 u” is it so hard to type the word “you”? And why does regular mail have such a bad rap? Is faster really better? Or is it just faster? Is it the cost of 50 cent stamps that has us deterred from mailing letters? Yet we’re willing to shell out around $50 per month to internet providers… that’s a hundred letters worth of stamps! So I argue that the thrill from receiving handwritten letters, notes or cards is far superior to the smile that comes when you see that familiar notice that “you’ve got mail.” So send a letter to someone you love, or like, or even someone you don’t like. Let’s give the postal workers something to strike about. I feel a resurgence of the romantic times when letter writing was the “thing” to do. Yet, I can’t help but wonder… was it because letter writing was the only thing to do?