You will recall, from our last thrilling episode, that we were discussing a wildly popular postcard theme we discussed in this space some years ago: the “How Come You Haven’t Written To Me?” cartoon.
The expectation that when you wrote a card or letter you expected one back by return mail (an expectation which has only increased in the era of email and text) led to another theme that was almost as popular as that one: the “Sorry I haven’t written” postcard.
The sender of such a card admits to the minor crime, but is, after all, making amends. The essential message is “You are not forgotten. I’m just a little behind.”
In fact, as sometimes the card points out, its very existence shows the sender did NOT forget to write. It may be arriving a little behind its time, but here is the message you have earned.
There were even cards which were suited to being sent a LONG time after they should have been, insisting that the sender feels a perfect…fool for not sending something sooner.
Others admit that you might, by this time, have given up hope. Finally receiving a message from the delinquent may come as a shock.
A goodly number of cards apologize for another crime we would fid hard to understand (though I think some senders of electronic communications would get the general theory of it.) Our ancestors were looking for not just response but parity. Sending a card in reply to a letter was felt to be inadequate, so some cards made a promise the pay the debt in full when possible.
Quite a lot of cards subtly apologize for how little can be said on a card, pointing out (that fishing gag gets a lot of mileage) that this is very short, implying that more will be forthcoming later.
Some cards MIGHT appear to be less apologetic, but this is probably a result of our suspicious modern natures. I am sure that, back in the day, only the most skeptical recipient would see a subtext of “Okay, HERE’S your message, nagger. Now the ball’s in YOUR court.”
You can find, though, a certain number of cards along those lines. THIS young lady, whatever your filthy mind imagines, is explaining how she always answers her correspondence immediately, barely pausing to dress.
In fact, some of them express this as a matter of even greater urgency. I have a few things to say about people who brag their desks are always clean, and what this suggests about them, but I will save that for when the Nobel Committee is ready to consider bloggers for their prizes.
Blogsy Babbles 