When it comes to mail, I'm still eight years old. I love receiving letters and packages in the mail. It validates my existence. When my mother instructs me to clean my room, I grumble, when she tells me to do laundry, I groan, and when she tells me to walk the dog, I will my dog to be cranky and undesirous of a walk. But when she tells me to check the mail, I dash to the mailbox and sift through the boring junk (anything without my name on it), desperately hoping there's something in there for me.
My parents assured me when I was younger that I would get tired of receiving mail later in life. I'm sure that they are referring to the increase in the volume of mail and tendency of said mail to be bills, but no matter. Until that time comes, no one will make me feel guilty for loving mail. No matter how much mail I receive, it still excites me every time. I'm that jerk in the campus post office who declares she has mail every time she discovers something in her mailbox. I am especially terrible when I receive one of my mother's surprise care packages. Then I proudly flourish my package slip as I carry it up to the counter to retrieve my package.
While there is something especially delightful about receiving snail mail, I will by no means leave out email. Email is a far more dangerous kind of addiction than snail mail. You can receive email at any time, and there's almost always a computer within my reach. This leads to obsessive checking of the mail whenever I don't want to write my English paper, contemplate my existence, or do basically anything that requires real brain power. And just as my mother fuels my love of snail mail, so does everyone else fuel my love of email by continuously sending me stupid attachments, love notes, homework, notices, and announcements of sales at stores. I read it all.
So here's my question. Spammers and junk mailers: why must you pollute something so beautiful? I have few simple pleasures on this earth, and there's no need for you to destroy one of them. I want you to truly think about the effectiveness of junk mailing and spamming to do anything but irritate me, and contemplate why you've created such an evil industry. I want you to think of your children, who I'm sure probably love mail almost as much as I do. When you send me junk mail or spam, a little piece of their souls die, and you have no one to blame but yourself.
My parents assured me when I was younger that I would get tired of receiving mail later in life. I'm sure that they are referring to the increase in the volume of mail and tendency of said mail to be bills, but no matter. Until that time comes, no one will make me feel guilty for loving mail. No matter how much mail I receive, it still excites me every time. I'm that jerk in the campus post office who declares she has mail every time she discovers something in her mailbox. I am especially terrible when I receive one of my mother's surprise care packages. Then I proudly flourish my package slip as I carry it up to the counter to retrieve my package.
While there is something especially delightful about receiving snail mail, I will by no means leave out email. Email is a far more dangerous kind of addiction than snail mail. You can receive email at any time, and there's almost always a computer within my reach. This leads to obsessive checking of the mail whenever I don't want to write my English paper, contemplate my existence, or do basically anything that requires real brain power. And just as my mother fuels my love of snail mail, so does everyone else fuel my love of email by continuously sending me stupid attachments, love notes, homework, notices, and announcements of sales at stores. I read it all.
So here's my question. Spammers and junk mailers: why must you pollute something so beautiful? I have few simple pleasures on this earth, and there's no need for you to destroy one of them. I want you to truly think about the effectiveness of junk mailing and spamming to do anything but irritate me, and contemplate why you've created such an evil industry. I want you to think of your children, who I'm sure probably love mail almost as much as I do. When you send me junk mail or spam, a little piece of their souls die, and you have no one to blame but yourself.
posted by Meredith at 11:00 AM
4 Comments:
I still love getting mail. Though it's dwindling. And has been since it's mainly college mailers and junk. But those few exciting envelopes...woowie.
As for email. Well, I'm a cumpulsive checker as well. All the time my window is open. I have my gmail notifier on constantly, but still, if I'm bored enough or in full procrastination mode, I go and check what I know is an empty inbox.
Why is mail so addicting?
You don't know me. I found you're blog on a random search. I'm 16 and I still adore snail mail. My love for recieving mail has yet to diminish.
*snaps*
I guess mail appeals to some self-centered bit within us all that coos "someone was thinking of me? aww..." whenever it sees a new letter.
That sounds pretty probable, Jason. I do like being loved.
And Elyse: yay for compulsive mail checkers! And you'll weather the storm of college mail from obscure colleges in Amish country and North Dakota, I promise.
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