The world is a less formal place than it was when I was growing up. And, before you dismiss my complaint as that of some curmudgeon, let me add it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Just different.
Take thank you notes. My mother made me write them dutifully in longhand; but then there was no other way, except for a verbal thank you. Today, we have email; and, while I don’t think it replaces the personal touch of a handwritten and stamped note, it is better than nothing in this busy world.
Take stamps. The U.S. Postal Service now allows people to create their own postage stamps with a service from www.stamps.com. You can download a photo of the family’s new baby or the most recent wedding or the office party and – voila! – it’s a stamp with the correct amount of postage affixed to it. All legal too. A great gift for new Grandmas . . . and practical too. It might even encourage a renewal in letter writing.
Take gifts themselves. Many now come with gift receipts so that the recipient can return the item if it’s a duplicate or simply unwanted. Combined with the gift card craze, this strategy seems to be an instant disclaimer about the thought the giver put into the gift.
And finally, take telephone etiquette. That is, take the lack of it. I spent an hour on the phone today talking with someone who wanted to sell me something I was truly interested in. Yet, on more than one occasion in that sixty minutes, he admitted to cleaning out his desk and reading other mail while talking with me. I felt dissed. I’ve had other conversations where I could clearly tell the other party was deleting spam or ironing or playing solitaire.
So, as Dylan has taught us, “the times they are a changin’.” And, whether for good or bad, we are probably not able to stop this trend. Rather it boils down to what one will and will not accept in daily life. For me, I accept email thank yous, personal postage stamps and gift receipts. I do NOT accept the new telephone etiquette, although I’m probably a voice crying in the wilderness.
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