*undecided - like and dislike

iPads and e-cards

I have used both of these and I while I am grateful for technology, it saddens me that some things will become obsolete as history itself has shown this to be fact.

One day last week while I was at the doctors office I saw this toddler sitting in a stroller bossing around an iPad. She knew exactly how to work this thing, in fact she could have probably taught me a few things about her beloved iPad.  I couldn't help but wonder: when did bringing books along in a bag go to the wayside?  I suppose you can carry countless book on your iPad saving much space. Why would you want to carry so many books?  I know this will become the norm. I am not sure how I feel about it.  I have sort of been wrestling with  my feelings since I was witness to this.  I am starting to think that perhaps I am becoming what I used to accuse my parents in my teen years - old fashioned.

Surely, some of you who are reading are saying "Come on now, Lynnie, get with the times."  And it is times like this that I am reminded of my youth when my own parents would not allow us to do certain things other young people our age was doing.  Many of our friends were allowed to drive around on Friday nights doing basically nothing (looking for trouble).  We lived in a very small town and the young people would drive to the water front to hang out.  Because our parents raised us the way they did, we have that as a basis to build from.  I am grateful for the way our parents reared us. The things they kept as their guidelines no matter what "everyone else" was doing.

Some body has got to help set the model. Models are the things that help us decide if what we are doing, reading, participating in is something we are in agreement with.  Models do change, but it is us who make the decision of when and how a model changes.

Along these lines I was just thinking about selecting some Christmas cards to start addressing on my next few Saturdays.  I decided to read some people's opinions about sending cards the traditional way, snail mail.  Why is it that we have become so fast paced, living so fast that we don't have time for the postal service to deliver a hand written card to a loved one?  It is a fact that over 500 million members also enjoy Facebook's convenience of keeping up with friends and family on a daily basis.  Some wonder what the point of sending a greeting card would be based on  their daily "contact" with their "friends" on Facebook.   I do realize that the card will cost money to purchase, the stamp to deliver cost as well as the time it takes to sit and write a note to each one receiving the cards.   Many would also say an e-card is much quicker and FREE to send.  I suppose these things come down to a personal preference and whether or not hand written greeting cards are a part of your families traditional activities through out the year.  I am sure there will come a day when you cannot even buy greeting cards.  You do not see many pay phones on the corners of the streets any longer do you? When the number of cell phone users hit 5 billion globally, there are few using pay phones, so they become obsolete. And just because it was done in the past does not mean it  has to be done in the future. I suppose I am a purist when it comes to traditional things.  Many who I send a card to may not hold fast to the same purist thinking as I do, and that is alright.  They may not even enjoy receiving the card as much as I enjoy sending it and that too is just fine.

I am heading off to write out the few Thanksgiving cards that I picked up last week at the Dollar Tree. I was there getting birthday cards for my nephews and a few of the Thanksgiving cards jumped out at me.  I do not want to pay an arm and a leg for a greeting card because after all, I realize it will be thrown out when the season is over.  I am hoping that each one receiving one will get a smile on their faces when they open the card that is addressed from our family to theirs!  I will continue to send cards out on any given occasion, it is my way of staying connected, staying intimate with the ones I hold dear to my heart.