What's inside the card?

The Christmas cards we send, as with greeting cards in general, say what we might say ourselves if we could write that well and/or if we weren't too lazy to actually say it ourselves.

When I shop for  cards I don't judge them by their covers but by what's written inside. Is is a sentiment I agree with? Is it too long? Is it too short, conveying nothing beyond "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Birthday"?

But how many people who receive these cards actually read them? I ask this because I realize that with the exception of comic cards or handmade cards, I rarely read the printed words inside the cards I receive. I just look to see who they are from and read any handwritten messages or printed Christmas letters I find inside. That, not the messages supplied by Hallmark or whomever, is what's really important.

I have no beef with the greeting card industry. They help put something besides bills and mailers in our mailboxes on special occasions, while also putting something in the coffers of the U.S. Postal Service. Yet these cards, as beautiful, cute or clever as they might be, mean precious little without a personal note inside, however brief.