If you’re old enough, you’ll remember the ubiquitous slogan of the Yellow Pages — “Let your fingers do the walking.” It still applies today, although now the fingers are tapping a keyboard or touching a phone screen instead of flipping through the pages of a phone book.
I had a momentary longing for those pages when I was trying to write thank-you notes to all my postcard project donors. Many I knew, but there were some for whom I only had email addresses or phone numbers, and it seemed more appropriate to handwrite my appreciation to those who had funded stamps. I either had to pay for an address or give up, and it struck me that these bulky books with everyone’s phone number and address used to be tossed at our doorstep. Today there is less privacy, but the information that once was free is now hard to obtain. I guess we have come full circle.
It reinforces for me that the handwritten, snail mail method of communication is increasingly rare and, thus, has a greater impact than the automated messages that arrive in the mailbox daily. Whether you’re writing a thank-you note or encouraging someone to take action, pen to paper may be your most effective method — but only if you’re lucky enough to have their address!
