Enough Already with the Junk Mail

I invested in a shredder to rid myself of junk mail and to ensure my privacy that some garbage snooper or dumpster diver does not steal my identity. But lately the shredder is being stuffed to the gills and my trash bin becomes a mish-mosh of paper that my childhood memories of making papier-mâché could only conjure up.

I even purchased an item called "Black Out" that is a self-inked stamper that will completely cover my name. This was from one of those ads for more stuff you can't live without; until you get it. It should cover your name and address completely so you don't have to shred. But it does not work on everything, especially the glossy pages of magazines, so if you have bought this item, look up to the light and you can read your name clear as day.

As postal rates keep booming and threat of the Post Office delivering mail only five times a week instead of six; my feeling is to quit delivering the mail completely. Send me my mail electronically and I will choose what I want to open and what I will immediately delete. Although my email addresses are also stuffed with junk mail, I don't have to hide them anywhere when they get out of control.

The worst offender is Publishers Clearing House and their jam-packed envelopes full of ads and dreams of winning the big prize that "you may already have won." What a crock! In between these glossy pictures of the items you just can't live without at a low cost, are your names plastered all over the place and shipping costs that are astronomical. I guess somebody has to pay for the postage on all those things they send on a daily basis!

Catalogs are another cause of alarm, just buying one thing from an online store will cause a deluge of catalogs from not only them, but their twenty or so affiliates. To tear your name off the catalog for the shredder and forgetting the order form inside that also contains your name and address is fruitless. So when the mail comes in my house, it takes me longer to shred the stuff I don't want than to tend to the stuff I want.

Is it any wonder why I wait until it piles up to the sky before I finally do something about it? I hope somebody out there is listening to my plight and can find a solution to one of the most annoying problems we face. Is there any way we can sue these people for bullying? After all, we are being intimidated by this mess and we in no way have asked for it!