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Apologies, ink and paper lovers.
Royal Mail recently hinted that it might discontinue Saturday letter deliveries, thanks to a decline in people posting missives to one another and a boom, instead, in parcels.
It’s not hard to see why we’ve gone mad for gifting in 2020. We were cut off from loved ones for months (which, as we all know by now, is the equivalent of several millennia in lockdown years).
i’s opinion newsletter: talking points from today
Many of us still can’t see family and friends. In lieu of being able to meet up in person, a fancy gift promises to convey the depth of your feelings in a way you suspect your feeble wave at the end of Zoom calls doesn’t quite manage.
But, at the risk of sounding like Meg Ryan’s Luddite boyfriend Frank in You’ve Got Mail (during lockdown, I watched the Nora Ephron film more times than I want to admit) wouldn’t a letter do the job just as well?
Now, those close to me may suggest that I’m making this argument solely because I tried to send my mum a posh get well soon parcel this week, only to discover that a cash flow issue meant I had the princely sum of £11.90 in my current account.
Others may question the necessity of putting pen to paper when we can say it all with the kissing emoji.
But while letter writing isn’t better than digital communication, it has different qualities – ones that are especially valuable “in these difficult times”. For one, touch is in scant supply at present.
The tactile nature of letters – holding something in your hand that your friend has written on and then carefully folded inside an envelope – is one of the few remaining safe forms of physical connection.
What’s more, letters are easier to concentrate on than other modes of correspondence. When you’re scrolling through a WhatsApp, you’re reading it on a device that holds an infinite number of other messages, news stories and alluring Instagram stalking opportunities.
Toggling between your mate’s agonising break-up saga and an Instagram story about a celebrity’s Shih Tzu puppy is, arguably, not the best was ay to give a loved one your full attention.
And if you’re keen on taking a luxurious three-minute break from coronavirus headlines, there is no risk of being interrupted by a stressful push notification when you are perusing something on an object that is not connected to the internet.
So, are you planning on rediscovering the lost art of letter writing? Answers on your finest stationery, please.
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