Letters from the editor

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth."
- Umberto Eco

One of the least appreciated but still very much in use forms of media is the mail. Good old mass mailings. Companies promising things too good to be true. A politician promising whatever it is you want to hear. Those last minute deals that arrive in your mailbox just it the nick of time. Oh, and if it gets there late, we’ll extend the offer just for you. Only you, and of course anyone else who breathes oxygen.

Doesn’t it fascinate you how they know so much about you? Trying to guess which credit application or store giveaway got you on this particular mailing list. It’s also fun to watch as they get things wrong, and how their mistakes display some marketing stereotyping from yesteryear.

For instance, depending on which piece of ID you check my address is one of two adjacent houses. On paper one belongs to my father and one to my aunt. I actually own one and am three quarters of the way to paying for the other. Neither was financed in my name, and I won’t pay taxes on them until it’s an inheritance tax. It was a strictly cash deal between two individuals. It is a bit disconcerting then that when mass mailings come to my fathers’ house they are 95% of the time carrying his name as the addressee. When they come to my aunts house 95% of the time they are addressed to me. Which makes my aunt very upset. I am sure my secret ownership isn’t out, but back at the mass mailing office I am sure someone is saying Homeowner: Check! Penis: Check!

It shouldn’t be this way, but it still seems to be. As for me, I usually pay cash wherever I go, and only have one credit card and one bank account at a credit union. I am pretty low on the credit radar. Yet I get all the refinance offers, I get all the home improvement ads. Still it is my aunts’ name as sole owner on the mortgage. This slowly built up from the time I moved back here five years ago. At first I had no mail, and now I get a ton of junk mail. Half the state of Oregon is probably deforested based on what they send out to me.

Mass mail or junk mail is a tried and true method of reaching the public. It is also the oldest form I think. This might be why it still reflects old values. They try and personalize whatever they send to pique your interest. The old days of ‘resident’ as an addressee just didn’t get as good a result I guess. Instant fireplace kindling. Maybe someone should tell them to get with the 21st century. Wait, that’s what spam email is for…