2008-10-01 - 10:19 a.m.
I just read something brilliant!
In the respectful light of full disclosure, I must admit that what I am about to write is because of a soft-spot I have in my heart for the United States Postal Service, for whom a family-member of mine worked for several dacades, and whose revenues helped feed, clothe and educate me.
Apparently the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has been experiencing steadily declining income because of inflation, high fuel prices, competition and decreasing general population demand as the world goes electronic in its communication standards. To keep up its monies to pay employees and provide services, the USPS has been stooping to last resorts to keep their base pay.
That is, the USPS guys are heavily dependent on "direct-to-mail" advertisers to keep the cash flow to keep their operations running. READ: Junk Mail! So the junk mail that we see clogging up our mailboxes is not just good for the advertisers, the advertising agencies and the mailman's chiropractor, but it is also the cash-cow of the USPS.
I love the Post Office. I love their ancient practice of delivering communications and parcels between peoples. I love that they are dutiful and faithful to their cause of the people. It is one of the truly honorable agencies of our times.
But they are the government, right? Our taxes pay their salaries? NO, NO, NO. The USPS is one of the parts of the US government that does NOT get Federal financial support. They are COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT. Every time we stick a stamp on an envelope and every time we send a package by mail, we pay for the work our mailman does. The USPS relationship to the U.S. Federal Government is that the government actually gets to tell the USPS how much they can charge for stamps and rates. So even though the USPS may be poor and starving and desperately close to business failure, they cannot change the money they charge for anything and have to beg the Congress for an increase in the fees they charge for their services. Then cross their fingers that our politicians have a heart and/or a brain.
Anyway, I READ SOMETHING BRILLIANT! To help support our lovable mail-persons, let's help them get justice for the back-breaking amount of junk mail they get. Heck, since the price of EVERYTHING is going up, including entertainment, we can consider the following idea a form of entertainment and save ourselves a few bucks that way too.
Here is the idea I read...All those junk mailers you get, expecially the ones from credit card companies, take the time to save them and set them aside. Save all of the ones that have pre-paid return envelopes. Take off any information with your name or address or anything else that can identify you, then stuff all the rest of the junk paper into the pre-paid envelope and put it in the mail. All the junk mail then goes back to the soliciting company that has been bothering you for so many years. The USPS will keep track of how many of these envelopes are mailed to the company and they will charge them for the mailing fees of these return envelopes.
So the USPS will get paid, you will be vilified and entertained at the same time, and the junk mail companies and especially the villainous credit card companies will get a dose of their own junk-mail-medicine! Everybody wins! I love it!
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