Receiving mail

[Miss Chicken]

I have just watched the episode of the Ray Bradbury Theater called "The Great Wide World Over There". Bascially it is about a woman who has never received any mail before and how she starts receiving it and her reactions to it.

So it made me think - what mail do we enjoy receiving? So a few questions.

1) Do you like or hate junk mail? If you hate it do you have a NO JUNK MAIL sign on your letter box?
2) What do you hate getting most in the mail?
3) What do you really look forward to receiving in the mail?
4) If you see the postman deliver your mail do you go straight out and collect it?
5) Do you ever send away for free samples etc?

 

[RJDiogenes]

1) Do you like or hate junk mail? If you hate it do you have a NO JUNK MAIL sign on your letter box?

Mostly I'm indifferent. But there have been times when I've gotten something interesting or useful, like a cool catalog or some coupons.

2) What do you hate getting most in the mail?

Bills, I suppose.

3) What do you really look forward to receiving in the mail?

Generally, I enjoy getting my magazines and newsletters the most. But I also get a letter from an old girlfriend around Christmas and my Birthday, so I imagine I look forward to those the most.

4) If you see the postman deliver your mail do you go straight out and collect it?

That's not likely to happen, but if it did I probably would.

5) Do you ever send away for free samples etc?

I never send away for them, but I'm likely to use them if I get them. I've gotten free samples of Tea and classical music, for example, that I've used.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

Getting mail used to be the highpoint of my day. The I acquired something called bills. Now I dread it. Everyday something arrives that tells me I owe somebody money.

 

[Luckyflux]

^ Same as me. Now I don't even want to look in the mail. It is only ever bills and bad news. I don't think there has ever been a case where I was pleasantly surprised by something I got in the mail.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I better answer my own questions

1) Do you like or hate junk mail? If you hate it do you have a NO JUNK MAIL sign on your letter box?

I don't mind junk mail all that much. However when I moved into the house i now live in there was already a NO JUNK MAIL sign on the letterbox and I have left it.

2) What do you hate getting most in the mail?

I don't get many bills except for the electricity and phone bills and I generally look at those bills online before they get to my letterbox. Therefore I would have to say I dislike getting other people's mail the most and I got a lot of that when I first moved in here because the former tenant refused to get the post office to forward her mail.

) 30 What do you really look forward to receiving in the mail?

Items I have bought online and my BigPond DVDs (similar to Netflix).

4) If you see the postman deliver your mail do you go straight out and collect it?

Yes, but I often miss him as my house is situated back from the road and I don't always hear the postman's motorbike.

5) Do you ever send away for free samples etc?

Not usually. However after watching this episode I decided to give it a try and applied for a free cookbook from Sanitarium.

 

[sojourner]

1) junk mail is OK if it is for the right target audience, i.e. things I like.
2) bills
3)money
4)The postman is like the toothfairy. I have never seen one, but sure they exist.
5) see #1 above.

 

[Supreme Admiral]

1) Do you like or hate junk mail? If you hate it do you have a NO JUNK MAIL sign on your letter box?

I hate junk mail that filled up in my letter box, what's the fucking point if you have them or not?

2) What do you hate getting most in the mail?

Everything that goes with Junk Mail, unless it's reasonable mail that looks so serious.

3) What do you really look forward to receiving in the mail?

My beloved family, of course.

4) If you see the postman deliver your mail do you go straight out and collect it?

Yes. I always do.

5) Do you ever send away for free samples etc?

Of course. I do.

 

[Trekker4747]

1) Do you like or hate junk mail?

Hate it. Hate it, hate it, HATE IT. I get freaking gobs of the stuff every week. In the mailbox hut/thing there's a trashcan when I pick up my mail I "sort" it into the trashcan. In a given week I might keep a couple letters/bills that are genuine or possibly "junk mail" that needs to be disposed of in a less acsessable fashion as it may contain personal information. The rest? Ads and junk. The trashcan in the hut thing is always full of the junk from other's boxes.

If you hate it do you have a NO JUNK MAIL sign on your letter box?

No. I doubt I can even do it and that it would do any good, it might even invite spite from the mail-carrier and get me MORE junk-mail.

2) What do you hate getting most in the mail?

Coupon Ads, I don't clip coupons, so they're beyond useless to me. They also make-up the most of what I get.

3) What do you really look forward to receiving in the mail?

.... Does anyone look forward to anything they get in the mail? It's not like we're in ye olde tymes where there's letters from mom written on yellowed paper with a dipped-ink pen.

4) If you see the postman deliver your mail do you go straight out and collect it?

Nope. I check it every couple days or so, and by that time it's usualy pretty stuffed with ads/nonsense.

5) Do you ever send away for free samples etc?

Nope.

 

[Goji]

1) Do you like or hate junk mail? If you hate it do you have a NO JUNK MAIL sign on your letter box?

I don't like it, but I don't dislike it enough to try and stop it from coming, which doesn't happen that frequently anyway.

2) What do you hate getting most in the mail?

I'm not sure. The few bills I get I mostly handle over the phone or online, so it's not really that. I hate it when my family orders huge packages that I have to carry home from the post office though. It's not exactly near my house and nobody else ever goes to claim them, even if they ordered it themselves.

3) What do you really look forward to receiving in the mail?

Probably stuff I order myself. Sometimes my penpals will send me stuff, which is cool. Also my girlfriend sends me Christmas and birthday packages that are always awesome.

4) If you see the postman deliver your mail do you go straight out and collect it?

We have a PO box, so I never see this occur.

5) Do you ever send away for free samples etc?

No, and I'm not sure how I would do so if I wanted to.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I have a shredder, so I don't particularly care about junk mail.

 

[Arrqh]

Basically all the mail I get is junk mail... nearly all my bills are either automatically charged or otherwise done electronically. Aside from the occasional birthday card or the like, all the mail I get that's actually useful is of the electronic variety.

So I'd be happy to skip this whole "mail" thing entirely. Waste of paper, I say!

 

[Captain Ice]

1) Do you like or hate junk mail? If you hate it do you have a NO JUNK MAIL sign on your letter box?

I'm kind of indifferent to it. I hate to see so much of it be waste, but once in a while I get a truly interesting offer I would not otherwise have. Since I don't get the newspaper anymore, this is also how I get my grocery circulars

2) What do you hate getting most in the mail?

Medical bills. The statements from my medical insurance are just as bad since they look like a bill until you get to the very bottom of the form.

3) What do you really look forward to receiving in the mail?

American Heritage's Invention and Technology
Hemming's Classic Car
The journal from the Southern Pacific Historical and Technical Society

4) If you see the postman deliver your mail do you go straight out and collect it?

Nope. It's in a secured box. If I see him, that means I'm on my day off, which usually means that I'm not in a state of dress to go outside.

5) Do you ever send away for free samples etc?

On occasion

 

[auntiehill]

1) Do you like or hate junk mail? If you hate it do you have a NO JUNK MAIL sign on your letter box?

No. We have a community mailbox, so there's no signs allowed. I really hate getting the same junk mail over and over. It's the same ads for the same places, advertising the same crap. I just toss it in the recycle bin as soon as it arrives.

2) What do you hate getting most in the mail?

Right now, it's the credit card applications. We have two cards--one for emergencies or internet purchases, and one that we use as a check-card. It's a credit card that acts like a debit. That's all we need. But because we have excellent credit, I get deluged with credit card apps that I have to shred or rip up, lest someone snatch it out of my recycle bin. It's annoying

3) What do you really look forward to receiving in the mail?

I love getting personal mail, but rarely do. It's all email these days. I really like getting catalogs, though. It's like window shopping from home.

4) If you see the postman deliver your mail do you go straight out and collect it?

Nope. The mailbox is around the block, on the corner, so I couldn't see it anyway. I usually wait until after work (7:30-8pm) to go get the mail.

5) Do you ever send away for free samples etc?

No, never have. I do get some unsolicited, though. Most of the time, I use them, and sometimes, it might even lead to getting one at the grocery store. I got some shampoo samples once that led to me buying the product. So, they got their money's worth out of me from that promo.

 

[WillsBabe]

1) Do you like or hate junk mail? If you hate it do you have a NO JUNK MAIL sign on your letter box?

I don't get much junk mail. I registered with the Mail Preference Service years ago and now we don't receive very much at all.

2) What do you hate getting most in the mail?

Statements and letters from financial institutions telling me how badly my mortage is performing and how my pension will probably just buy me a couple of bails of kindling when I retire.

3) What do you really look forward to receiving in the mail?

Nothing, really. In the old days I used to buy lots of zines and I used to love getting those.

4) If you see the postman deliver your mail do you go straight out and collect it?

No, unless it's something that I'm dreading receiveing.

5) Do you ever send away for free samples etc?

No.

 

[Mr. B]

1) I'm indifferent abort junk mail. I don't care about the lost trees and it goes right in the garbage.
2) Having never recieved a classic Dear John letter by mail, no real hatred to speak of.
3) I love getting my latest eBay purchases and to a lesser degree, Netflix DVDs.
4) I get it as soon as I can.
5) No samples.

 

[judge alba]

1) Do you like or hate junk mail? If you hate it do you have a NO JUNK MAIL sign on your letter box?

don't like it. we used to have a sign up saying no junk mail but the postman still stuck it through the box his answer when asked why cant he read?
"my job is to post them not read signs"
it all goes into the recycling bin unread now

2) What do you hate getting most in the mail?

the very few bills we dont pay on line and letters about a garage we dont have dispite teling the council otherwise

3) What do you really look forward to receiving in the mail?

letters from me dad and a few letters from my other halfs older brother though she has to translate them for me

4) If you see the postman deliver your mail do you go straight out and collect it?

nope

5) Do you ever send away for free samples etc?

yep quite often, it's probaly why we get so much junk mail. got things like wwomens stuff for the other half choccy, tea coffee oh and free ink cartridge for my printer

 

[Agony_Boothb]

I dislike pretty much any mail that doesn't come from amazon.com. I love coming home to an amazon present!

 

[Geckothan]

1) Hate.
2) Bank statements.
3) Other peoples' mail so I can open it up, read it all and seal it back up before giving it to them.
4) We get it straight through the door, no need to go out to collect it.
5) No.

 

[JoeZhang]

I get nothing but bills - I'm on the mail preference list so don't receive junk mail.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

stopping junk mail

Miss Chicken wrote

If you hate it do you have a NO JUNK MAIL sign on your letter box?

That won't do much. The mail carrier's job is to deliver mail to the address.

Here is how to slow slow down and almost stop junk mail:
World Privacy Forum's Top Ten Opt Outs
http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/toptenoptout.html

also:
Consumer Form Letters and Opt Out Information
http://www.privacyrights.org/Letters/letters.htm

with the
Direct Marketing Association Opt out Services (DMA opt outs) I would suggest mailing it in with a $1.00 money order not using their website as Consumerist said 2 months ago:
Direct Marketing Association's Opt Out Website Is A Joke
http://consumerist.com/5366438/direct-marketing-associations-opt-out-website-is-a-joke

It takes about 3-4 months though but that along with your financial institutions getting your OPT-OUT requests works.

You don't have to move to file a change of address card with the USPS. Get a PO Box and file a temporary change of address card. Contact each of the businesses you use and give them your new PO Box separately.
Also send in a separate envelope with an additional $1. to the DMA for your new PO Box address to opt out of junk mail there.

FYI if you move and file a permanent change of address your new mailing address is sold by the US Postal Service to RL Polk Company and then to many direct marketers.

Few people are aware that when they tell the Postal Service about an address change, the Postal Service makes the information public through a program called National Change of Address [NCOA]. NCOA has about two dozen licensees--including many large direct mail companies--who receive all new addresses and sell address correction services to mailers. If you give your new address to the Postal Service, it will be distributed to thousands of mailers. People always ask `How did they get my new address?' The answer may be that it came from the Postal Service. People who want their mail forwarded--and who doesn't--have no choice. File a change of address notice and your name and new address will be sold.

THE POSTAL PRIVACY ACT OF 1997
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r105:E07JA7-646:

Solution: File a temporary change of address up to 6 months only is allowed.