Well I think this is just a wonderful idea. In fact I'm going to go ahead and try this little trick myself (and I thus have no life 🙂
I've been sending the envelopes back, full of trash papers, for years. But that just dings the sender for the price of a stamp. This will take them for a chunk of change.
Whoever brought up the post office, yes, they do earn substantial revenue by facilitating junk mail, but they get paid if you use the pre-paid envelopes too, so I don't see how they are getting hurt.
Also, there is a certain amount of enjoyment and certainly a very funny story to tell by doing this. That has value. Just as going out for a nice motorcycle ride has value.
Originally written by geek_law on 4/9/2009 5:28 PM
Well I think this is just a wonderful idea. In fact I'm going to go ahead and try this little trick myself (and I thus have no life 🙂
I've been sending the envelopes back, full of trash papers, for years. But that just dings the sender for the price of a stamp. This will take them for a chunk of change.
Whoever brought up the post office, yes, they do earn substantial revenue by facilitating junk mail, but they get paid if you use the pre-paid envelopes too, so I don't see how they are getting hurt.
Also, there is a certain amount of enjoyment and certainly a very funny story to tell by doing this. That has value. Just as going out for a nice motorcycle ride has value.
The only way the Post Office might get hurt is through increased workers compensation costs due to lifting the junk you send out. As I said, I have a Post Office Box where, for some reason, all of the junk mail turns up. They have a convenient counter located adjacent to the box and I usually spend a minute or two to sort my mail, sliding all of the junk mail in to the nearby waste can. It works for me.
I don't intend to spend a single minute gnashing my teeth at some company that really won't care if they do get their mail back with some junk. I'm pretty sure that they are aware of this gimmick so that they probably just dump your box as received without even opening it. Most of the senders of these specious mailings are only boilershops anyway and operate as agents of the companies doing the advertising. It's not like they are gong to take it personally. Like everything else, it's only a days work for a day's pay. As you say, it will run up the senders' costs but there also aren't that many people doing it. Some people have other things to do, like engaging in pleasant conversation with their famliy members or doing some traveling,
As far as I can see,though, there's really nothing wrong with sending the stuff back. There's also nothing important or worthwhle about it, either. It's just silly, IMHO.
It's all about "beating the system" and "taking it to the man!"
It is silly. But its also funny. I enjoy sending the envelopes back. I have a feeling this will bring a whole new level of personal enjoyment. 🙂
That said, I'm a pretty sick minded prick. It's just in my nature.
I also like to get telemarking calls. It's a little game for me. I express interest, ask lots of really silly questions, and generally see how long I can keep them on the phone until they hang up on me. Sure it's a waste of time. Time, that I could be billing, riding motorcycles, playing with my kids, or sending back large pre-paid postage packages, but what the heck, its fun and amusing.
Like I say, I'm pretty sick minded.
You're not sick minded. I certainly don't mean to say that. It's just that you really must understand that the people to whom you return the postage-paid mail really, truly, don't care. It's no skin off of of their noses what you send or don't send.
If fact, I can picture them even smiling a bit when they open up your box and discover that you accidentally sent them all of your new T shirts, 2 packages of them. You know, the ones your wife bought for you on sale at Wal-Mart....
Originally written by gnm109 on 4/9/2009 6:15 PM
If fact, I can picture them even smiling a bit when they open up your box and discover that you accidentally sent them all of your new T shirts, 2 packages of them. You know, the ones your wife bought for you on sale at Wal-Mart....
It's funny you mention T-Shirts from Walmart, because some of my favorite T-shirts are ones that my wife ACTUALLY did buy me from walmart. One of my favorites is a brown Guinness T-Shirt that she got me for $5.00.
I'm not pulling your chain here ... my wife really did by me a shirt, from walmart, for $5.00 and it really is one of my favorites. Many of my slacks and dress shirts that I wear into the office are also from Walmart.
But I'm a big fan of Walmart. I shop there and am a shareholder as well, so I've got a bit of a bias. Most of the other attorneys in my office wouldn't be caught dead in the place, but most of them won't drive a motorcycle, wrench on their own vehicles, or work on DIY projects around the house, and then come into work on Monday morning with slivers and oil under their nails.
Its just one of those things ... different strokes for different folks.
That would suck though if I accidentally mailed something of value, but I don't see making that mistake. Although I suppose it could happen.
Originally written by geek_law on 4/9/2009 6:38 PM
Originally written by gnm109 on 4/9/2009 6:15 PM
If fact, I can picture them even smiling a bit when they open up your box and discover that you accidentally sent them all of your new T shirts, 2 packages of them. You know, the ones your wife bought for you on sale at Wal-Mart....
It's funny you mention T-Shirts from Walmart, because some of my favorite T-shirts are ones that my wife ACTUALLY did buy me from walmart. One of my favorites is a brown Guinness T-Shirt that she got me for $5.00.
I'm not pulling your chain here ... my wife really did by me a shirt, from walmart, for $5.00 and it really is one of my favorites. Many of my slacks and dress shirts that I wear into the office are also from Walmart.
But I'm a big fan of Walmart. I shop there and am a shareholder as well, so I've got a bit of a bias. Most of the other attorneys in my office wouldn't be caught dead in the place, but most of them won't drive a motorcycle, wrench on their own vehicles, or work on DIY projects around the house, and then come into work on Monday morning with slivers and oil under their nails.
Its just one of those things ... different strokes for different folks.
That would suck though if I accidentally mailed something of value, but I don't see making that mistake. Although I suppose it could happen.
Well, I wondered where Geek Law came from. I too am a lawyer but I'm in California. I was a solo street lawyer. I wes forced to work alone because I was born without a personality. That made me ideally suited for the law. LOL. I'm inactive now since I really don't feel like or need to work anymore so I spend my time mooning over my Hack rig and my machine tools and welders. I was going to ride today but it rained and will tomorrow. It going to clear up soon and I can just taste the gourmet coffe now.
I like Wal-Mart as well. I have to. They put all of the little stores out of business in may area. God Bless 'em. I also notice that they don't talk about selling only American stuff anymore since there isn't much to sell.
Happy Trails and watch what you mail.
The "geek" part is for technology given that I worked for a very long time as a software engineer.
The law part is for technology related legal doctrines that keep me busy all day, such as copyright, patent, trademark, and other Intellectual related legal doctrines that intersect with technology, especially computer related technology.
Originally written by geek_law on 4/9/2009 8:09 PM
The "geek" part is for technology given that I worked for a very long time as a software engineer.
The law part is for technology related legal doctrines that keep me busy all day, such as copyright, patent, trademark, and other Intellectual related legal doctrines that intersect with technology, especially computer related technology.
Well, all that stuff is too technical for me. I spent more than 20 years getting rid of bad hunbands and wives (legally, of course) and then bankrupting the survivors. It's all good!
Originally written by gnm109 on 4/9/2009 8:20 PM
Originally written by geek_law on 4/9/2009 8:09 PM
The "geek" part is for technology given that I worked for a very long time as a software engineer.
The law part is for technology related legal doctrines that keep me busy all day, such as copyright, patent, trademark, and other Intellectual related legal doctrines that intersect with technology, especially computer related technology.
Well, all that stuff is too technical for me. I spent more than 20 years getting rid of bad hunbands and wives (legally, of course) and then bankrupting the survivors. It's all good!
I don't have to work with people ... it is very convenient given that I don't like to work with people :^)
Ugh ... I went through my own divorce. I cannot imagine having to listen to the horror stories of others.
I've been told that a good divorce lawyer spends 50% of their time as a psychologist/therapist and 50% of their time as a lawyer.
Originally written by geek_law on 4/9/2009 8:26 PM
Originally written by gnm109 on 4/9/2009 8:20 PM
Originally written by geek_law on 4/9/2009 8:09 PM
The "geek" part is for technology given that I worked for a very long time as a software engineer.
The law part is for technology related legal doctrines that keep me busy all day, such as copyright, patent, trademark, and other Intellectual related legal doctrines that intersect with technology, especially computer related technology.
Well, all that stuff is too technical for me. I spent more than 20 years getting rid of bad hunbands and wives (legally, of course) and then bankrupting the survivors. It's all good!
I don't have to work with people ... it is very convenient given that I don't like to work with people :^)
Ugh ... I went through my own divorce. I cannot imagine having to listen to the horror stories of others.
I've been told that a good divorce lawyer spends 50% of their time as a psychologist/therapist and 50% of their time as a lawyer.
When you're a family law attorney, you only have to worry about your case, your client, your client's children and house, the other client, his attorney, the judge and, the state bar. Other than that, it's not hard. LOL.
To keep this thred on topic, I have to say that I'm still getting unwanted mail at my P.O. Box that has to do with the law business. I get offers to finance my clients, be an expert witness, help to build my practice and so on. I guess I could mail them back to their offices postage paid with some old, unsalable Harley parts (I've ot a lot of those from many years of riding.)
Frankly, I just don't have the energy and I actually feel sorry for them having to do cold calls with spam on uninterested people.
With a few exceptions you guys have done a bang up job of Hi-Jacking this post.
Originally written by Shadow1100T on 4/10/2009 2:01 AM
With a few exceptions you guys have done a bang up job of Hi-Jacking this post.
Oh, there you are. Where have you been?
You drop a link and then stand back and if it slips off a bit, then you come to let us know that we didn't exactly get your original intention.
Thanks for the link, anyway. It's good that you never posted anything else. That gave us a bit more license. LOL.
It always amazes me how a post can go south, starts with just a hint of something else and then snow balls from there,,,O well 🙂
Originally written by Shadow1100T on 4/10/2009 2:19 AM
It always amazes me how a post can go south, starts with just a hint of something else and then snow balls from there,,,O well 🙂
Wait just a minute. Don't you see how much "junk" I got "rid of .. legally."
I know I feel better 🙂
BTW: I really am going to try the postage paid box trick. As noted, I've done many many envelopes, but never a box. I cannot wait. I might even include a nice letter in an empty box asking that they not mail me any more solicitations! I think this could be a great way of getting rid of all those shipping boxes from places like amazon and what not.
Anyway, my apologies about the hijack. Of course, hijacks are one of the best parts of forums 🙂
I'd beleive your apologies,,,,,,if you weren't smiling 🙂
