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Fun mail

I received a piece of fun mail yesterday. My definition of fun mail is something that is not an ad and not a bill, addressed to me or someone else in the family, and from someone we actually know. Yesterday, we got a thank-you note from friends that we had sent a baby gift to. Now, as you know, I am big on thank-yous, so this especially brightened my day.

One of the blogs that I check out semi-regularly is written by a local (to Seattle) guy who calls himself Skor Grimm. He has a beef with the amount of junk mail that he gets, and has instituted what he calls “Project CRAP,” which weighs and measures how much unnecessary mail he receives, with very specific criteria. One real-estate agent was so upset at being his “LowLight of the Week” (he shows one piece of mail that he considers really useless and unsolicited on the blog every week) that she threatened to sue. He correctly pointed out that since she sent him the unsolicited ad, he was free to do with it what he wanted. She backed off.

I check this blog because it is true: there is so much useless junk in the mailbox. There are ads that I receive that I want, like the grocery ads and JoAnn Fabrics, but most of them I can live without and they take up space in my recycling bin. For some reason, the Webmaster is getting two magazines that we never subscribed to and he barely thumbs through before tossing them. We both have magazines that we get that we love, and those are nice (I love Taste of Home), but they really don’t fit the definition of fun mail.

Fun mail means someone was thinking specifically about you, and took the time to write on a card or send a letter, address it, spend 37 cents, and send it. Fun mail has more meaning than email, because of the thought and effort involved. Now, I love email, too (spam not included – that sounds so Monty Python), and I’ll admit that it is fast and easy and a quick way to communicate – especially with friends that you would maybe not think of sending fun mail to, because you live close by. But with family spread out, and friends in other states, fun mail makes a statement. It says, “I care, and I’m thinking about you.”

So, I have been trying to send out fun mail at least once a week. I know that it will brighten someone’s day. So keep an eye on your mailbox. You never know when the next piece of fun mail may arrive, and it might be from me. 🙂

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