Yesterday I went hunting for a

birthday card for my niece. We keep some blank cards in a shoe box on top of the bookshelf that does not have books on top of it. There are quite a few cards in there but none of them seemed quite right for a modern younger woman. My father, who has a half interest in the card, wanted to send pink roses. I said "no". Pink roses would not do at all, neither will the poppies or any other flowery card. We also discarded the koala, the view of Uluru, a lighthouse and a very masculine vintage motor car. The sympathy cards are obviously inappropriate and the other cards are intended for children of my acquaintance.
"I'll find something on my way to the library," I tell my father and then make the necessary detour to the "cheap shop" where there are cards aplenty - but nothing I think is right. They are still flowery and the blank cards, although nice, are not suitable for a modern younger woman.
Oh well, over to the newsagent.
Now, I want a suitable card but my neice would not be impressed with the thought of anyone paying anything from $6.95 to $8.95 for a small piece of cardboard with a piece of inane doggerel inside or a risque joke. I spend more time than I should amusing myself by reading the nonsense inside some of the cards and admiring the artwork on others. Someone I know stops to speak to me about the report I am supposed to have finished pretty smartly. I really need to get to the library and pick up a book.
I am about to leave in disgust when, at the end of the second long row of cards I see a box of $2 cards. Oh, take a quick look? There might be something. I flick through a large pile, one for one nephew and one for another nephew, one for my sister - they all have birthdays coming up. Then, a Japanese lady behind a fan. It is interesting. It is different. The message is plain and simple and appropriate.
Clutching it and the other three cards very firmly indeed I go to the counter, pay and leave. I really should talk my card making friend into doing a dozen or so cards for me. I think I would knit an entire cardigan in return - unless I can find more cards for $2.