Letters

Cell phones are ubiquitous. E-mails are cheap. So why would anyone write a letter? The short answer is that a letter is, and always was, a gift. Anyone can make a phone call and nearly anyone can send out an e-mail, but a letter takes effort in the sending and often demands more of an effort in the writing. Each year in December I ask my writing classes to spend part of one class period composing a letter of appreciation to someone they love. The chief lesson here is to demonstrate directly the power of the written word. We may all do the same thing by writing a note to those we love, by telling them why we love them and what they have done in our lives. Just think: for a 37 cent stamp, a piece of paper, an envelope, and half an hour of time, we can make someone’s entire day seem brighter, lighter, happier.

Shopping

Given that Christmas is just around the corner, we’ll all probably engage in the great American sport of shopping in the next 30 days. Recently a female friend wrote that she’d felt like crying during a pre-Thanksgiving mall expedition when she couldn’t find a skirt. Don‘t answer back with a sympathetic note, she said to me, as in “I felt like crying once when I couldn’t find a tie I liked.” With the exception of a few members of my gender — I know one New York fellow who sounds as if he might burst into tears whenever he begins whining, which is pretty much every waking moment — men don’t shed tears at the mall. Sometimes when frustrated we invent new ways to curse. Sometimes we want to punch holes in the wall. Usually, though, we wind up suffering from In Mall Passivity Syndrome, or IMPS, which is similar to post-traumatic stress disorder. If you walk around the mall‘s sitting areas, you will notice that those occupying the benches are approximately 95 percent male, 90 percent of whom are past the age of 30. These battered mall warriors invariably display the symptoms of IMPS: stunned faces, a thousand-yard stare, an inability to move more than a few paces without groaning, silence. As you pass these holiday martyrs — they are generally waiting on loved ones, who are probably frustrated and crying — you might whisper a prayer for them. You might even salute them. What I wouldn’t do at this particular moment in their lives, unless you’re absolutely certain you can outrun them, is wish them a happy holiday.

— By Jeff Minick