Mail Carriers

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Lifer
Oct 24, 2000
17,255
44
91
Do mail carriers feel bad that the majority of the stuff they deliver will immediately get thrown out? Probably 3 or 4 days a week, I walk to my mailbox, get the mail, then walk to my recycling bin and toss it all. This time of year, its all advertisements and catalogs I've never asked to get. Earlier this year it was political flyers that I never asked to get.

I hope they're ok. Yes they get paid to do a job, but it must be so unfulfilling to be primarily an advertisement mule.
 

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,348
3,426
126
Do mail carriers feel bad that the majority of the stuff they deliver will immediately get thrown out? Probably 3 or 4 days a week, I walk to my mailbox, get the mail, then walk to my recycling bin and toss it all. This time of year, its all advertisements and catalogs I've never asked to get. Earlier this year it was political flyers that I never asked to get.

I hope they're ok. Yes they get paid to do a job, but it must be so unfulfilling to be primarily an advertisement mule.
Honestly they probably don't care. But yeah there is an impressive amount of junk mail that does directly into the recycle bin
 
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Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
67,199
12,027
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www.anyf.ca
It's crazy the amount of waste in the junk mail industry. From printing press to your mailbox, lot of resources were spent, all for it to end up in the recycling. Seems so pointless really.
 

pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
12,974
7,891
136
I've heard that they do care. At least here in UK. The sheer quantity of it adds to the excessive workload and makes their job harder.

But the Royal Mail makes a lot of money from delivering pointless junk mail, so continue to do it.
 

Mai72

Lifer
Sep 12, 2012
11,578
1,741
126
Junk mail helps to subsidize the rest of the mail service. Surely, it must also work for companies' bottom lines too, otherwise, why would they bother paying for it?

Because junk mail is still effective. At least with the Boomers, and silent generation. Have you ever wondered who still reads the newspapers? Its the older (over age 60 crowwd).

Those are the same people who still go thru and use junk mail, watch the news on TV, read the newspapers and write checks. I haven't used a check in many years.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
57,363
7,514
126
why would they bother paying for it?
I wonder about this. I find the effectiveness questionable. My suspicion is they do it cause they've always done it, and an effective business presence requires mail spam cause we've always done mail spam. It's like religion.
 
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Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,246
10,748
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Recently I've started contacting those "mailer" companies and telling them to STOP sending 20lbs of garbage to my home every year.

USUALLY it works surprisingly well. ;)
 
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thestrangebrew1

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2011
3,430
382
126
Funny you bring up mail carriers as we've been having a hellish time with ours the last few days/week. We got a mailer from them saying something about not letting our dogs be the reason we or our neighbors aren't getting mail, with pictures on the back showing mail carriers getting assaulted by dogs. Funny thing is, our dogs are inside. They bark and jump on the door and stuff when the mail comes, but there is no reason for them to be scared if they're just delivering our mail, seeing how we have a metal security door on top of our normal front door. Additionally, I got a notification that USPS had an issue delivering our package yesterday. Again, they could've just dropped the package off on our porch, no issue with the dogs. We've had issues with the mail over the years for no reason apparent to us, but it's gotten worse. We have a mail slot to slide the mail in but, ironically, our package we were expecting was a mail box so I can put it up and they wouldn't have to slide the mail into our slot anymore. SMH...

To answer the OP, they don't give a s#&t. Maybe the newer ones after they've recently mastered their route might care, but the more experienced ones are pretty much zombies driving around/walking around the neighborhood.
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,246
10,748
136
We ALL know who to thank for declining service from the USPS. :rolleyes:

Wrong forum.
 
Dec 10, 2005
23,990
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I wonder about this. I find the effectiveness questionable. My suspicion is they do it cause they've always done it, and an effective business presence requires mail spam cause we've always done mail spam. It's like religion.
It's probably also done to build brand awareness. People thumb through stuff and toss it, but then when they're looking for a service or product later, those brand names will be in their subconscious.
 
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Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,246
10,748
136
Idk.... 99% of my junk-mail goes directly from mailbox to garbage. :confused:

With the occasional exception of a McDogburger's/BK coupon I never even glance at them and any "brand-recognition" I get from a wasteful USPS mailer will only lead me to NEVER EVER use your company.
 

dainthomas

Lifer
Dec 7, 2004
14,572
3,401
136
It's probably also done to build brand awareness. People thumb through stuff and toss it, but then when they're looking for a service or product later, those brand names will be in their subconscious.

It's like how most people stream/record tv shows. They skip through commercials, but companies still make commercials. Probably because they have research that shows even seeing a 1-2 second clip sticks in your brain.
 

snoopy7548

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2005
8,048
5,043
146
It's like how most people stream/record tv shows. They skip through commercials, but companies still make commercials. Probably because they have research that shows even seeing a 1-2 second clip sticks in your brain.

Case in point...

 

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
58,055
12,245
136
Idk.... 99% of my junk-mail goes directly from mailbox to garbage. :confused:

With the occasional exception of a McDogburger's/BK coupon I never even glance at them and any "brand-recognition" I get from a wasteful USPS mailer will only lead me to NEVER EVER use your company.
Yeah, it's really easy for me to just stop by the recycling bin on my way into the house, so some of the junk mail never even makes it more than 12 feet or so from the mailbox.
 

IBMJunkman

Senior member
May 7, 2015
632
192
116
Hopefully you remove any identifying info from what you throw away.

I cut out all addresses and any reference to my first or last name. Then cross cut shred the cutouts.

Paranoid baby boomer. :)

Do mail carriers feel bad that the majority of the stuff they deliver will immediately get thrown out? Probably 3 or 4 days a week, I walk to my mailbox, get the mail, then walk to my recycling bin and toss it all. This time of year, its all advertisements and catalogs I've never asked to get. Earlier this year it was political flyers that I never asked to get.

I hope they're ok. Yes they get paid to do a job, but it must be so unfulfilling to be primarily an advertisement mule.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,402
8,038
136
Funny you bring up mail carriers as we've been having a hellish time with ours the last few days/week. We got a mailer from them saying something about not letting our dogs be the reason we or our neighbors aren't getting mail, with pictures on the back showing mail carriers getting assaulted by dogs. Funny thing is, our dogs are inside. They bark and jump on the door and stuff when the mail comes, but there is no reason for them to be scared if they're just delivering our mail, seeing how we have a metal security door on top of our normal front door. Additionally, I got a notification that USPS had an issue delivering our package yesterday. Again, they could've just dropped the package off on our porch, no issue with the dogs. We've had issues with the mail over the years for no reason apparent to us, but it's gotten worse. We have a mail slot to slide the mail in but, ironically, our package we were expecting was a mail box so I can put it up and they wouldn't have to slide the mail into our slot anymore. SMH...

To answer the OP, they don't give a s#&t. Maybe the newer ones after they've recently mastered their route might care, but the more experienced ones are pretty much zombies driving around/walking around the neighborhood.
I worked a temporary job for 6 months for the federal government in the Office of Workman's Compensation Programs in San Francisco. It was decades ago. I looked at tons of applications by federal employees for compensation for accidents suffered at work. I saw some truly hair raising stuff, but don't remember anything except for the fact the mail carriers' claims were the great majority of time because of dog bites. I saw a ton of those. Clearly the greatest hazard for mail carriers is dogs. The weather often really sucks but it doesn't bite.
 
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Charmonium

Diamond Member
May 15, 2015
8,787
2,297
136
Think of junk mail as the plastic grass in your easter basket. You don't really need it, but it just wouldn't be the same.