Our
mailbox is at the end of our driveway. That means the stroll of
retrieval usually involves a bit of looking over the haul of arrivals
and sorting some stuff out. Over the past couple of months, I’ve
been stunned by the amount of material that has absolutely no
use for us at all.
Now,
let’s be clear about a few things. I think all of us could make
jokes about the contents of our mailboxes. This is true if for
no other reason than just about everything we find delivered by
the postal service likely has a group of people that would claim
there’s no need to be having it sent to us…
Bills?
Save a tree and do them online.
Magazines?
Who reads physical magazines?
You
get the idea. Even for those that have monthly statements or periodical
subscriptions dropped off by the mailman, there are a fair number
of people that utilize alternatives. Many people don’t see the
point of mail.
I,
on the other hand, enjoy many aspects of mail. I like getting
letters and cards from family and friends. Environmental considerations
acknowledged, I prefer physical books and magazines to digital
alternatives.
End
result is that when I say we’re going to wander down the path
of useless mail, we need to have an agreement in place that allows
some pieces to be considered useful via that delivery method.
Fair?
Good.
(Moving on.)
Recently,
some friends and I have noticed an uptick in student loan mail.
Apparently, many people are (or may be) eligible for student loans.
Which would be great news if, you know, any of us were students.
(Let’s
put aside the cynicism and likely realities for a moment. Pretend
the offer is legitimate.)
What
kind of research and action involves sending this material to
people that have no intention of attending college? Because that’s
the foundation of the issue. The people I spoke with are all at
or nearing retirement, and are not considering heading back to
school for a class or two of interest or to earn a later-in-life
degree. They are not registered for classes, nor looking for degree
information online, and have in no way indicated they might be
heading toward a nearby campus or signing up online.
Student
loan information addressed to people that have shown no interest
in needing a student loan.
On
the opposite side of the spectrum, we do know some folks that
are involved in college efforts for different reasons. Friends
of ours that are thinking about going to school or taking a class,
or those with children in the house considering schools, and they
aren’t getting any mail about student loans.
The
summary point here is the advertising blast makes no sense. It
seems to have no focus toward who is, isn’t, or might be headed
to school. No way of acknowledging those considering it. Things
show up in our mailbox from time to time, and it’s left to us
to dispose of something we never requested.
Let’s
say you live in a heavy-snow area. Old Forge, New York? Yes. Carlsbad,
New Mexico? No. It might make sense for people in such a place
that own homes to receive unsolicited mail about snow fencing.
Makes sense for the region, and that they might consider a purchase.
Wouldn’t be too hard to narrow the search parameters to add in
characteristics that might increase wind and driveway issues.
Where
I’m ultimately headed is that folks in South Dakota and Nebraska
are probably not that excited when mail shows up offering terrific
rates on property insurance for hurricane damage.
But
somehow, we’re all eligible when the right filters are applied.
The
other day I went online and did a search for a piece of cooking
equipment. Spent the next few days seeing advertisements following
me all over the internet. Social media. New sites. Look for one
raclette grill, be haunted by it for a week. So, I suppose things
could be worse.
It
would be awfully nice to be eligible for somethings I’m actually
interest in checking out. But what makes sense about that?