I consider myself a pretty low-maintenance, easy to please kind of girl. Jeans and t-shirts, baseball and beer... though I know how to enjoy getting dressed up, going to a nice dinner and enjoying nice wine, I'm happiest without all of the pretense. And I LOVE getting MAIL. Postcards from friends on vacation (or not on vacation!) and holiday cards make me happier than anything. I blame my grandparents who, until they passed away, sent me cards for EVERY occasion - birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Halloween and Thanksgiving. They lived far away, so I didn't get to see them very often - it was their way of letting me know they were thinking about me. And my Great-Aunt, who always sent me postcards on her vacations to tell me she wished I was there to enjoy it with her.
So today, while everyone is complaining that Valentine's Day is a "Hallmark Holiday" - along with Mother's Day and Father's Day - I have a hard time blaming Hallmark and $3 greeting cards for the holiday spending getting out of control. With consumers this year expected to spend almost $18 billion on the "Hallmark" holiday, most of that money will be spent on flowers and jewelry - according to a survey by the National Retail Federation. The survey shows that 36% will buy flowers, just over 35% will treat someone to a night out, and almost 19% will buy jewelry.
So why do we call this a Hallmark holiday when maybe we should be calling it a Pro-Flowers holiday, or a Jared holiday? And if it IS a Hallmark holiday, then why aren't more people buying cards?
I'm part of a counseling group that consists of five people - four men (one is the counselor) and myself as the lone female in the group. When asked if they were going to buy their wife/girlfriend a card on Valentine's Day, two of the men shrugged and said, "I guess..." while one of the men said, "I already did." One of the men who said "I guess so" pointed out that it's really an easy thing to get - drug stores and grocery stores all sell cards, and they're all open 24/7.
One man complained about the work that goes in to choosing a card. Fellas, the fact of the matter is there are three kinds of Valentine's Day cards that you can get for your woman: sappy, funny, or sexy/suggestive. That's it. They all fall in to one of those categories. And the fact is, you should know your woman well enough to know what kind of card she will appreciate!
I think the hardest thing about greeting cards for men is feeling the need to write a personal message. This hit home for me when I broke up with my ex and went through and looked at all of the cards he had gotten me... they all said, "I love you more every day." When I realized the message had been recycled so many times (with occasional variation: "I love you - more and more every day!") it made sense to me why the relationship didn't last. He was on auto-pilot.
So I say - go forth! Support Hallmark and the US Postal Service! Show your significant other, and even your friends, that you love them, care about them, and you're thinking about them on Valentine's Day - and every day!
