Carding Marcia and Wendy's Wedding!

Our neighbors Marcia and Wendy are getting married. This is cool in many ways (they are obviously a loving couple to each other, and excellent neighbors to all of us) but it raised a problem.

We wanted to get them a card. We're not close enough to them to be invited to the festivities, but marriage is a big deal that needs to be celebrated by the community with an appropriate small gesture. So The Lovely Wife and I decided to walk to the nearest store and checked the card selection.

There was half an aisle of wedding cards, but each was more heterosexual than the next. Now, I'm very o.k. with straightness, having been that way all my life and finding it a great asset in my marriage, but the uniform gender assumptions of every card present got in the way of solving the current problem. What to do?

We just wanted a card that said something like "Congratulations! Happiness always!" and couldn't find it. Every one felt the need to specify the genders of the parties! The card with the vaguest text featured a tux and a white dress which, technically speaking, might not have been gender-oriented, but it would not have fooled anyone.

Feeling frustrated, we did the only thing that made send: go to the funny-card aisle and have a few laughs. This is always a good idea, no matter what your mission.

And there it was: a talking card, that said "Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations!" in the rapid squeaky cartoon voices of a big-eyed red cat and a lime green dog (illustrated).
 
This was better than all the formal cards lined up in a row and taped together! It made us laugh.  It said what we wanted. It said nothing more. (It might also say that we can be a bit silly, but what-the-heck, that's just the truth!)

So, to Marcia and Wendy: Congratulations on your marriage. May it be long and happy!

And to the makers of greeting cards: you're missing a market!