Card Shopping

Sunday morning I went to the grocery store on my usual milk-run for kitchen essentials. I also wanted to swing by the paper products aisle to find a graduation card for my cousin’s son, Taylor, who graduates from High School this spring. With his Open House yesterday I wanted to find Taylor a nice card. Something I could sign and slip some cash inside of to say congratulations.

This is how I found myself perusing the greeting card selection for recent graduates in my semi-uncomfortable church shoes with ice-cream melting in my grocery cart. Card shopping isn’t the easiest thing for me. I’m big on marking significant moments but I’m not big on sounding schmaltzy or contrived.

I was surprised to find the selection of cards littered with clever quips. One card jabbed congratulations for graduating having so rarely showed up for class. Another offered hobby recommendations for that extra 10-11 minutes this graduate will have every day since studying is no longer required. Clever little quips, certainly, and I laughed more than once.

That’s how an exchange like that goes with a quick quip, charged and often funny, and the pay-off is given freely enough when everyone laughs. The speaker proves him or herself witty. We’ve all created a thick skin around this type of banter so nobody gets their feelings hurt.

That thick skin though can prevent a more sincere “congratulations” from being launched or landing. I find the currency of sarcasm pretty cheap, actually. Not something I’m eager to invest in much. Not something I get a lot from.

Meh, given the choice I’ll opt for a genuine exchange over a guarded one. I found Taylor’s card eventually. More importantly I hope he never doubted how pleased I felt to show up to his Open House and to celebrate his graduation. Taylor’s a pretty impressive person. I mean it.
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Recent Goodness: Two days wearing three sets of dresses and girlie shoes. I spent the weekend all gussied up. Throw in a stint at Biketacular, a closet full of clean laundry, leftover apple pie and you could say I had a pretty great weekend.