Good Monday morning to ya!
Its a rainy one in Nashville.
Times have changed, haven’t they?
Do you remember the last time you were excited about going to your mailbox to get your mail?
These days, I’d venture to say that most of the snail mail delivered by the postal service is BILLS and marketing materials from companies who still send stuff that way (even though it’s a largely ineffective and expensive form of marketing).
Why do we call it “snail mail”?
It’s SLOW and inefficient (and EXPENSIVE). After all if you want to send a letter, you’ve gotta actually INTENTIONALLY reserve time and spend money to buy note cards or stationery, envelops, and STAMPS and sit down and write something – fold, stuff, and stamp it and walk all the way down to your mailbox to send it away . . . and OMG! It could take as long as THREE days to arrive.
Why would you do that slow, cumbersome process when an email or text gets there immediately, is FREE, and can be done on the fly from your phone?
In my view, Most direct, person to person communication comes electronically these days, and I’m an “all-in” participant in the electronic social world.
AND . . .
I miss the good old days of fetching the mail and finding a note or a card from someone I know who “was just thinking about me and wanted to say HI!'”
Is that OK? Should I not bemoan the way things used to be, or am I being a crusty curmudgeon? Should I just get over it and stay with the herd?
What would happen if I were to decide to start a little mini-revolution of snail mail, note writers? Do you think the US Postal Service would underwrite my experiment?
How often do you find a PERSONAL, handwritten note in your mailbox? How do you feel when you receive a note?
What’s my point?
I believe that the snail mail handwritten note communicates that the sender CARES . . . LOUD and CLEAR!
Mail is cool because it looks & smells like the sender . . . Handwriting is personal . . . and you know that she took the time and made the investment to “send the very best”.
Companies have even found a way to automate the handwritten note with a cursive font and a “real” signature . . . so you can send them in bulk, and the recipients theoretically feel like you PERSONALLY were thinking of them.
That trickery doesn’t work for me!
Some folks say they don’t send handwritten notes because their handwriting is so BAD. The truth is that it’s the note (the gift) that counts . . . not its readability or even what it says.
Send me gibberish scribbled on a used napkin, and I’ll appreciate the fact that you were thinking of me.
I haven’t checked my mail box in years (Deb gets our mail) because there’s seldom anything personal and uplifting there. I’ d like to change my relationship with my mailbox such that I anticipate the mail delivery with excitement just like I did when I was in the Army or away at college.
I know how we can start this revolution.
Pledge to write 5 (or 10) notes EVERY day to people you know, love, and miss . . . Doesn’t matter what it says . . . Could just be:
Dear Fred,
Just a note to say HI and let you know I was thinking about you. Let’s catch up soon.
Best,
b
I’m just saying’
PS – This old-fashioned technique also happens to be a very powerful business, building tool.