MayThe Walls of Hallmark Come Tumbling Down

I realize that economic stimulus plans should not pick winners and losers, but I am hoping that no stimulus funds get channeled to Hallmark or greeting card makers of its ilk. It is probably unAmerican to hate greeting cards, but I do. Greeting cards purportedly help us communicate with our loved ones on special days, like Valentines Day or Mother's Day, or help us send our condolences upon the death of a relative or friend. But no mass-produced sentiment can get that communication right. Instead, we get treacle, one of my favorite words -- sticky, sweet, attempts at poetry, which are larded (another favorite word) with cliches. They say nothing, no elegantly, but flatly, unpoetically. Greeting cards are the potato chips of the world of communication -- mass produced, emotionally fattening, offering cheap comfort and no real consolation. If it didn't kick greet card writers and illustrators out of jobs, I would like to start a "No More Greeting Cards" movement. On special days, write something, for goodness sake! Whatever you say or write will reflect how you feel; it will be real. It may be halting or inarticulate, but it will be genuine.