The Mailman Made my Day

I like getting the mail. Not that I actually get any personal letters. I am such an incredibly nice person that sometimes I get thank you notes in the mail, but it's not like the pre-Internet days when I would get a three page handwritten letter filled with stories from a friend delivered by Pony Express. OK, maybe not the Pony Express, but I did used to get actual handwritten letters several pages long. The reason I like to get the mail now is that the mailbox is almost empty. A year ago I was receiving glossy catalogues from L. L. Bean, Eddie Bauer, Pottery Barn and about a gazillion other places dying for me to spend money. And I think a whole forest was cut down to keep the credit offers coming to me. ("This is our 600th letter to her. I feel lucky this time.") There were letters from charities, alumni associations, hotel chains, timeshares, appliance companies, educational organizations, department stores, and real estate agents. The other day my letter carrier asked "Did you do something to your mail?" He noticed!!!! A year ago I started feeling guilty about all the waste paper my mailbox was generating, and I began writing to companies to take me off their lists. I have it down to a quick routine. Open the Word document template, enter address, pop out the letter and envelope, staple the part with my address and send. And it stopped! Now there's only a few letters in the box. And with the time I've saved dealing with the mail, I'm going to invent a cure for cancer. Right after I sit down and write some long, heartfelt letters.