As much as Hallmark cards and any other card company cards are creative, funny, and sweet, I believe they take away the sincerity of the giver. As Chris Rock said in his HBO special Kill the Messenger, we as Americans tend to pay for things that should be free. I hate receiving holiday and special occasion cards with only a signature as I open it. How thoughtful are those? I would much prefer a home-made card or letter. Those are always the best.

It is silly to think of the process. We go to the store to buy words that people are hired to put together to give to another person for that specific occasion, sign it on the bottom, lick the envelope, and hand it over as if we put so much effort and care into it.

We've become quite the lazy and brain-dead race. A co-worker once told me that in Japan, teachers were praised and are paid just as well if not better than doctors. Our teachers are much too underpaid, ridiculed, and the standards thereof hiring them are lower than the core of this here earth. They are not respected as they should be. However all the blame shouldn't go to the students for some teachers are better off being phone operators for a foreign country. I suppose that is the price to pay for so-called American "freedom".

This is just a reminder to those who still appreciate wisdom and knowledge, do not fall for it. Fight for it. Go do something that uses more than 2.7% of your brain power. Everyone is much more capable of greatness than they are thought out to be.