When I was a younger, we would pay to have pen pals. I don't know exactly where that money went, or who I was sending money to, but I'm pretty sure I have a "friend" in Bangladesh who is WAY behind on sending letters to me. I paid good money for her to be my friend! Ugh.
Anyway, as things have progressed over the past couple decades, writing letters or sending mail has become a thing of the past. We're a society of instant gratification, so we send emails, texts, or update Facebook or Twitter when we want to talk to someone or get a message to someone quickly. The problem with snail mail, is that it takes a few days (or a week) to reach the desired recipient-- what if we change our mind by the time that person receives the card or package? Short of waiting for the FedEx delivery truck to pull up, there's not much we can do once the package is sent. Awkward!
This poses the chance for a new experiment. With texts, emails, and IM's we can easily blurt things out (even if we don't mean them, entirely), without much thought. But with sending a card or a letter, you better be darn sure that what you say now is what you're going to still mean in a week from now when the person receives your letter. Perhaps we should go back to being a society of patience. We should really think things through before speaking. We should write more, type less. We should experience the emotions of anticipation again. What do you think?
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