German Christmas card Greetings

This an apology to my family. I tried my best, but nobody will be receiving Christmas cards this year. Don't blame me, blame the strict German postal service (see below).

I was so good this year. I bought a pack of Christmas cards just days after Thanksgiving. They were even the kind where part of the profits go to charity. I addressed the envelopes to all of my friends and family in the U.S. I wrote personal messages in each of the Christmas cards. I even drove (well, Marco drove) to the post office just a few days into December with the intent to mail them weeks before Christmas.

But alas, no one will be receiving Christmas cards from me this year.

This isn't my fist time sending Christmas cards to the U.S. Last year, trying to be safe and fit within the post office's size limits, I bought mini-cards that were half the size of a standard greeting card. Imagine my disappointment when I got to the post office, and the man told me that "Oh, due to the miniature format, these don't fit through the machines. Therefore, postage costs €1.50 per card instead of €0.80.

But that was fine. I was only sending about 5 cards anyways, and €1.50 still seemed somewhat reasonable.

Learning my lesson from last year, I decided to buy a pack of (what I thought was) standard-sized greeting cards this year. Well, imagine my disappointment once again when the women at the post office told me, "Oh... these are too big. It would be €3.45 per card to send these." What?! Since I had 10 cards in my hand (and not very much money in my bank account), I just couldn't justify it. So, I didn't send the cards.

Turns out, what the Germans consider "standard" is very specific. I know it is my fault for not checking beforehand, but it is also infuriating that these Christmas cards could be sent for just €0.80 each had I cut 1.5 cm off the bottom of each card.