For a long long time we have made a Christmas letter to go in cards we send out. We also did a Christmas poem until the micro manager ran out of creativity. Her poems were awesome and people liked to receive them.
Now we send very few cards but send an email to many people. The few cards we send out are to those people without email. They miss the pictures. I know that some people consider the email Christmas letter tacky but I think it's better than nothing.
I have just finished a long run of producing the Christmas creation. I tried to cover some of the major events of the year and comment on each family member. I try to keep it light as it is the season to be joyful. We look back and see all the things that were positive for the year. For the last two years the micro manager has produced the Christmas message from our place.
So a few days ago the Micro Manager sat down and produced a letter and it was handed to me to type and get them on their way down the email pipeline. ( Sorry, I live in Alberta with lots of pipelines.) I asked the Micro Manager if she wanted me to go over the letter with her. No, she wasn't interested. Just type the thing and run off some copies for the cards I do.
I started to read the letter before typing it. I didn't get very far before I said, "You can't send this out!."
Her reply was, "That it was going as is." I continued reading and about 2/3 s of the way through I started laughing. Now what I found wrong with the letter was that it was very black. All the little problems we had in 2014 were listed in the letter. It would be a downer to receive this letter for a Christmas greeting. The micro manager's comment was that she meant it to be humorous. I guess she was right since she got me laughing.
Some how or other, I'm not sure most readers will see the humor.
It seems to me that this is a mixed message.
Maybe next year I'll get the Christmas letter writing job back.
Of course one could always go with the reliable "Dear everyone, as you know, Uncle George finally got out of jail from those jaywalking charges that escalated into recriminations and threats in 1978, and is thinking of getting even with the bylaw officer...."
ReplyDeleteNothing reliable here!
DeleteOurs wasn't very funny either...just truthful. Yours was probably funnier than ours:0
ReplyDeleteInteresting is where I'm trying to go.
DeleteI suspect you will. :)
ReplyDeletePutting any bets on that!
DeleteBlack humor can be funny, I guess. Most people seem to like that old Christmas movie "Christmas Vacation" where everything goes wrong for the Griswolds.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think there are more movies like Christmas Vacation.
DeleteMost of the Christmas letters we get are all about bragging on great vacations and acquisitions, or surgeries and illnesses. I prefer simple cards.
ReplyDeleteI definitely don't like the ego letters.
DeleteWell, I guess honesty is always good! :-) I think sending out a Christmas greeting, whether by email or mail, is a great way to stay connected. I didn't send out any last year, but I'm trying to this year.
ReplyDeleteKey word connected. That means a little news.
DeleteI would bet on you getting the job back.
ReplyDeleteOkay, how much?
DeleteWhen the receivers are well know people of you they will understand the humor of it I suppose?
ReplyDeleteYou're right. These people know us.
DeleteI am thinking that this Micro Manager might just have the right idea. I do receive Christmas Letters ie "Johnny doing well in school" Blah, Blah, Blah. Give me some humour. I am most happy that Johnny is doing well in school. I really laughed at William's comment at the top of the comments. Now that's funny. Go Micro Manager Go - Spice er up a little girl, eh. Great pun on the pipeline Red.
ReplyDeleteI do think these letters should have some news so that we stay connected in some way. It should also be interesting.
DeleteI guess it all depends on the recipient. Whoever has a sense of humour will appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteAll people know us well so they might catch on.
DeleteI work to make rhyme, and do it most of the time.
ReplyDeleteSharp! You do lots of good poetry on your blog.
DeleteI used to send extensive letter with photos and then I realized that so few cared about out little old lives. This year it will be an expensive photo card and a paragraph tucked inside.
ReplyDeleteThe "used to " letters were all original I'd bet.
DeleteMuch better than the crowing, "we went on this expensive vacation, and our brilliant child won this prestigious award, and I got a whopping raise" kind of letter that we receive each year from a little-liked relative.
ReplyDeleteI think everybody dislikes those intensely.
DeleteI don't write one of those letters, but I did enjoy receiving them when my friends wrote them. We still get ONE every year, but just one. :-)
ReplyDeleteI agree that not many are written and I was willing to quit this year.
DeleteI'll bet everyone will love it! I was just thinking yesterday about my posts lately. I sound so negative about everything but most of the time in a kidding way, I think?
ReplyDeleteWe do have to sit back sometimes and reflect on our blogs and how readers see them.
Deletesure hope it is received well and folks don't think you're depressed as heck!
ReplyDeleteOh they know us well enough so that they wouldn't think depression.
DeleteChristmas letters are always welcomed by us. It's a great way of finding out how people's years have been. We've had the good news and the bad news in them. I like the sound of your micro manager, and that sentence, 'she gets me laughing', made me smile.
ReplyDeleteI agree that letters are much appreciated.
DeleteI enjoy letters in my cards but I know one niece sent us all the same one word by word then my belated sister started to do the same as her daughter and was even more boring..
ReplyDeleteBoring not even personal. I write to ones who do not have a computer and yes a paragraph from me. Can you believe me chatty doll. So interesting what happens to yours the reaction. Well I suppose you will never know reaction back. Or maybe you will. ha-ha.
We will get some feed back.
DeleteThe letter is my job as well. Each year it gets shorter and more generic with more and more sappy pictures...:)
ReplyDeleteOkay, the job description is going to have to be revised!
Delete2015? Uh oh! Hope no one thinks ya all lost your minds! :)
ReplyDeleteCheri
Good eye! The editor (me) was sound asleep at the switch
DeleteI can't stand these letters! Either they are full of the doom and gloom you've had, or else bragging about one's trips around the world, and the expensive things one has bought!!!!
ReplyDeleteI do think there's value in a good letter that helps to keep contact. I see very few of my nieces and nephews who are in their 40's
DeleteOh it is funny it goes with my post from today. Oh yes sometimes it is hard to know what to put in those letters:) Hug B
ReplyDeleteIt's not only what you put in but how you say it.
DeleteToo funny!
ReplyDeleteI send out about 60% of our holiday greetings by e-mail now. The rest get a snail mail newsletter since they don't email. I haven't even started to send anything out yet. Our lives have been a bit topsy turvy these past couple of months.
I hope your newsletter wasn't toooo dark and depressing.
We get an annual letter from a guy who does nothing but detail his every health complaint!! It's so bad it's funny...
ReplyDelete