Send a card for old times’ sake

A LONG time ago when Moses was a boy, the staff members of this newsroom begged and pleaded for a fax machine. Oh, how we wanted this new invention that would make our lives so much easier.The adage of the crusty old editor of that time was that we did not need this newfangled gadget and, as always, we would rely on God and the morning post for our story leads.

It took a long time but eventually it became obvious that if we did not have fax machines we would be left behind in the instant communication world and with the postal service being unpredictable and God having too much to do rather than attend to The Highway Mail’s news flow, a single little machine was acquired by the newsroom. Oh joy, we had stepped in to the technical age, life would be so much simpler now.

Nobody told us of the pitfalls of the fax machine. The black pages, the smudged lettering and the ability for someone with an evil soul to set it up so that he could send you two and a half thousand identical messages throughout the night until your paper ran out. On arrival at work in the morning reporters waded through reams and reams of paper and once it was replaced, it would start all over again. I can’t remember how we managed to stop him but this incident put a different slant on our precious gift. The fax machine had its disadvantages.

While messages poured out of the machine every day, most of them illegible, it became a good days work to sort the newsworthy from the junk mail. But the post continued and it was always a delight to open letters from readers, with messages of thanks or complaints or cuttings of stories particularly enjoyed, or not.

There is something special about a letter. The envelop with a special stamp, the smell of ink on paper and an indication of the trouble taken to sit down and compose a letter to a friend, a colleague or a business letter. Back at Scottsville School in primary school days, letter writing was a big part of English lessons. We were taught how to write the address, how to write a business letter and the difference between yours sincerely, yours faithfully and your friend.

Do children still learn these niceties now that e-mail is the chosen form of communication? Do we even write letters these days when we know what everyone is doing, even what they had for supper, just by going on to their wall on Facebook? I wonder how many Christmas cards will be sent this year – yes, it’s Christmas, not Xmas or Happy holidays!

It was always a little thrill to see what the post box held at Christmas time. The once a year communication with a distant cousin overseas, a letter from Gran, and beautiful cards from friends, relatives and acquaintances. These were the only items mailed to my parents which I was allowed to open without their permission. The cards would be pegged on to a line of string along the mantelpiece of the fireplace for all to admire.

My grandmother even had a little book which listed the names of everyone who sent her a Christmas card, with their address, because it was really an insult not to send a card in return. How genteel times were. There were no fax machines, e-mail or Facebook and twitter to send messages and it was special. I think we have lost something precious with our modern means of communicating.

Send a card this Christmas and warm someone’s heart.