Paul Merrill
Last fall we went to Aspen for a weekend getaway. (We did not take a private jet – just our minivan.)
One evening meal was at a fairly humble pizza place. I loved their drinks menu: “Beer: $3, Good beer: $4.”
All too rarely do we communicate that bluntly. It’s a good thing to do so, as long as we don’t hurt others in our blunt communication.
One friend observed, “You get mad at things, I get mad at people.” She said it in a complimentary way. (And I thanked her.)
As life moves forward, we lose some things.
When I was a kid, my family had encyclopedias. I used to enjoy sitting down and reading them. Or skimming them to find interesting articles. Hours and hours of my childhood were spent learning that way.
Today, kids have Wikipedia and Google. Both offer huge advantages over encyclopedias. But some things are lost. I wonder how many kids spend hours combing Wikipedia for interesting articles.
I have a Kindle, and I love it. But it’s far from perfect.
Recently, I learned of a high school not far away that is “paperless.” No books, except eBooks. Again, some good things come with that – but some things are lost.
My Aunt Mary hadn’t heard from us in a while. She doesn’t do email. So I picked up a pen and applied it to paper. So she will receive a nice letter this week.
Takeaway? Do something that communicates to people in a language they understand. They will be grateful. And it may well be a satisfying experience for you too!
(Besides, I like getting letters in the mail. So I was just passing that joy along. My brother does do email, but we still exchange letters. There is something about the hold-in-your-hands experience that can’t be beat.)
