A Postcard related Disease

A POSTCARD-RELATED DISEASE CALLED I.P.E.S.


While most postcard collectors are not affected by it, there is an incurable disease that has started running rampant through a small percentage of postcard collectors. The Center for Disease Control knows no treatment for it. The disease is abbreviated as I.P.E.S. It's short for Incurable Postcard Enthusiast Syndrome. It's characterized by an inability to keep from spending large amounts of money when the victim finds a postcard he or she doesn't have.

One of the devastating effects of this malady is that some of those affected may spend hundreds of dollars just to get to a place thousands of miles away where there is a postcard show in progress.

In established cases, victims can be exasperating to their friends and may be unable to behave in a rational manner when engaged in postcard trading.

Researchers have yet to discover a cure for this disease, but it is known that there is a temporary remission right after a victim hits what is called the "mother-lode." That's collecting lingo for obtaining a cache of very rare postcards. Then, for at least a short time, the victim feels good instead of miserable and has even been known to communicate magnanimously with friends and family.