A very quick update for those who've been keeping an eye and looking for the very rare updates here, I've completed basic and have left Quebec for a new posting in Ontario where my training continues.
Being in the CF has resulted in a reintroduction to something many consider to be outdated and old fashioned, writing letters. I'm not talking about emails or updates on Twitter and Facebook. I'm taking about taking out some paper, putting pen in hand and sending an actual letter, through the mail. You use things like envelopes, stamps and mail boxes. It occurs to me that there are likely some twenty somethings out there who have never received or sent an actual letter, birthday cards with a couple of sentences don't count.
Satisfaction delayed is satisfaction savoured in my books, and waiting a week or so for an actual letter to show up makes it all the sweeter. Sitting with a group of 30 or so other soldiers when mail is delivered, its an interesting dynamic. Most of the mail received is the usual assortment of bills and account updates...however when someone gets an actual letter, you can smell the jealousy in the room and I'm not immune, unless I get one or two letters of my own.
Hacking out some words on a keyboard, and hitting the send button is just too easy. Knowing that someone took the time to actually seek out pen and paper, then took even more time to address, stamp and post the letter...it means something. And I try to always answer letters sent to me, many emails go unreturned.
And it doesn't have to be someone in the Forces, my kids love getting letters...but then their Dad can go weeks without access to a computer so communication is harder, but also much more appreciated in whatever form it takes. Those of us over 40 remember things like pen pals and checking the mail box every day in anticipation of correspondence.
If you know someone in the Forces, take the time to send them a letter...I promise it will be very much appreciated, whether they're in Canada or overseas. Soldiers, just like everyone else, get too many bills.
Being in the CF has resulted in a reintroduction to something many consider to be outdated and old fashioned, writing letters. I'm not talking about emails or updates on Twitter and Facebook. I'm taking about taking out some paper, putting pen in hand and sending an actual letter, through the mail. You use things like envelopes, stamps and mail boxes. It occurs to me that there are likely some twenty somethings out there who have never received or sent an actual letter, birthday cards with a couple of sentences don't count.
Satisfaction delayed is satisfaction savoured in my books, and waiting a week or so for an actual letter to show up makes it all the sweeter. Sitting with a group of 30 or so other soldiers when mail is delivered, its an interesting dynamic. Most of the mail received is the usual assortment of bills and account updates...however when someone gets an actual letter, you can smell the jealousy in the room and I'm not immune, unless I get one or two letters of my own.
Hacking out some words on a keyboard, and hitting the send button is just too easy. Knowing that someone took the time to actually seek out pen and paper, then took even more time to address, stamp and post the letter...it means something. And I try to always answer letters sent to me, many emails go unreturned.
And it doesn't have to be someone in the Forces, my kids love getting letters...but then their Dad can go weeks without access to a computer so communication is harder, but also much more appreciated in whatever form it takes. Those of us over 40 remember things like pen pals and checking the mail box every day in anticipation of correspondence.
If you know someone in the Forces, take the time to send them a letter...I promise it will be very much appreciated, whether they're in Canada or overseas. Soldiers, just like everyone else, get too many bills.
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