I was watching morning cartoons with Aubree this morning and for whatever reason a cartoon character was sad because his grandfather left to “go back to the farm”. To cheer the sad little cartoon character up a mail carrier suggested that he write a letter to his grandfather.

This made me think about when the last time I actually wrote a letter to make someone feel better. I couldn’t remember exactly but I’m pretty sure it was over a year ago while I was in the Middle East. I vowed to write people and write people often but the time it took to write a letter quickly interfered with other things so e-mails and phone calls quickly became the supreme communication methods with back home. Why? It’s faster and more convenient. Voice calls are instantaneous and e-mail is damn near instant. By the time a letter gets around the world the news is old and might not even be a relevant anymore.

This brings up another interesting question, what use do letters have in these days of free long distance, e-mail, blogs, and forums? The only reasons I’ve written letters other than to communicate is to thank somebody for something they’ve done for me (and they didn’t have an e-mail address) or to complain to a company about something they’ve done wrong.

The days of writing letters are gone, in my opinion. There is no use in depending upon a near bankrupt organization (the US Postal Service) to deliver my communique when I could pick up my T-Mobile Sidekick and communicate via instant messaging, text messaging, e-mail, or phone.

I would like nothing more than to not have to buy stamps and envelopes ever again.