Mail

A card sent by a good friend was waiting for me when I arrived home on Monday. I appreciate her taking the time and trouble.

That's what a lot of people don't realize anymore. A "real" card "counts" more because of all the steps you have to go through to get it to the recipient. E-cards are fun, and they show you put some thought into positive contact. However, for me anyway, it can be a challenge to do the snail-mail card because of all the mental and physical steps involved. Plus, having grown up before email, finding a treat in the mailbox outside my house will always cause a little charge of excitement. All too often, these days, all I find is an armload of circulars and ad flyers that go straight into the trash when I get inside. What a waste of paper and energy--not just for me--for the sellers, for the printers, for the postal system, and THEN for me. And so disappointing to plow through all of it to make sure no treasure is buried, only to come up empty so many times.

I can't decide whether direct-mail advertising is keeping the US Post Office afloat, or killing it. I think sending ads out should be WAY more expensive than first class mail, as they are so wasteful of precious resources. Let them subsidize the first class mail, and we would never have to pay higher prices for stamps again. Or, maybe I'm totally off base, and it would cause the USPS to collapse inward on itself from having not enough work to do for all those well-paid, highly unionized employees. It isn't that they don't work hard, and under a lot of pressure. It's that a good portion of the work they're doing results in boatloads of waste paper going in landfills or just back into the recycling bin.

Waste, waste, waste.