Happy Mother's Day

Today is the day we thank our Mom for giving us life and nurture. There also may be gifts and cards involved.

After today, I'm putting a moratorium on receiving greeting cards on holidays, because the greedy buggers have jacked average prices up to the ripoff range, between 4 and 6 dollars. For a card. Yeah, 2-4 wasn't enough. I'm one of the few guys who tries to remember birthdays and such and would always send cards, a small way of saying "hi". But the industry has got to the point where their greed has pushed over the line. Time to stop buying and exchanging store-bought cards. Time for new tradtions and ways of expressing our caring for others. Time for greedy greeting-card manufacturers to go out of business.

How about making a donation to a worthy cause instead? I've had friends do this for me for birthdays in the past, and I'm delighted that they helped someone- it meant so much more than a card which got opened, read, and immediately put aside. Or try just saying a few words of caring to their face. Or even send an e-card, if you need to hang onto that way of doing things.

One of the best ways to thank mothers is to improve the world- and we can do that by getting rid of the waste of the greeting-card industry, all the paper and envelopes and money funneled into the hands of a few. Let's put that money to better use, and show more caring than ever.