Among Friends

[THEY CallMe Mr Wilkes]

In a sign of the times, the government owned Danish postal system, PostNord, will cease delivery of letters at the end of the year.

Announced earlier this year, mailboxes are currently being removed from city streets.  Letter volume has dropped nearly 95% over the past 20 years and the decline is accelerating. 

Denmark is just about the most digitalized country.  Virtually everything is done online and via email.

PostNord will concentrate exclusively on package deliveries, which is profit making.  A private company is expected to step in for the small letter market, picking up and delivering letters for a fee.

Much of Europe is experiencing the same decline.   I imagine that within 10 years the USPS will focus exclusively on package shipments. 

[just bee]

I just spent a portion of my day sorting through a stack of junk mail.  What to shred, what to recycle...

Most of my mail is junk mail.

[tiny 2]

@just bee 

I would love to get rid of the all the junk mail that I receive. Hate it

[jackthebear]

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@tiny 2 wrote:

@just bee 

I would love to get rid of the all the junk mail that I receive. Hate it

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it is possible i have posted about it before

we dont get that much

[Marp]

I don't mind the few pieces of junk mail I get.  At least the junk mail doesn't cost me anything unless I want it to unlike my "first class" mail.

[cjm61]

@just bee @tiny 2 

Two of my family members are retired from the USPS. I mentioned to them once about getting way too much junk mail. They said that is what keeps the USPS in business.

God help us, at least in my area, if USPS takes over delivering just packages. Our local carrier is one of the worst. I just found out yesterday a package I never received states "Delivered Neighbor as Requested". I never requested the item be delivered to a neighbor. I wouldn't even know how to do that and no neighbor has given it to me. Now we have filed a "lost" package. 

[Q-Checker]

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@cjm61 wrote:

@just bee @tiny 2 

Two of my family members are retired from the USPS. I mentioned to them once about getting way too much junk mail. They said that is what keeps the USPS in business.

God help us, at least in my area, if USPS takes over delivering just packages. Our local carrier is one of the worst. I just found out yesterday a package I never received states "Delivered Neighbor as Requested". I never requested the item be delivered to a neighbor. I wouldn't even know how to do that and no neighbor has given it to me. Now we have filed a "lost" package. 

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For those who want to reduce the amount of junk mail they receive, Google non-profit Catalog Choice, Years ago I signed up with them and my junk mail dropped significantly. As I recall, there is no fee but they welcome donations.

What now stuffs my mailbox are charity solicitations. Once you give, some charities send repeated solicitations adnauseum, not to mention that many sell your contact information. Very few, in my experience, give the option to opt out of solicitations after one makes an intended only annual donation. Lately, thankfully, more charities are giving donors the choice to decline the passing  of their contact information to other charities. I am overwhelmed with solicitations and cannot afford to give to all of them. I vet the charities to which I do donate by reading detailed ratings through ny subscription to Charity Watch.

Addendum: Since posters have been noting how they are turned off by the unwanted "gifts" and money enclosed in some charity solicitation offers (me, too), I will add that Charity Watch reports this expense, along with other "overhead" expenses charities incur to raise money. They do not endorse any charities where this amout exceeds 20% of their income to raise money.including salaries. The 20% includes the "gifts" and money enclosed in solicitation letters.

[shoekitty]

Seems like for the US it would be the collapse of the Greeting Card industry. Although we do give many cards in person. What about  credit cards and some items. I guess they would have a special service. I don't see that happening for a long time.  We still pay most of our bills old school... we do some,online.  It's  just a better system for us, also keeps us in tune with finances better. If there is power outage, or shut down of internet, nothing can be run...and that's wrong.  But, I am older  so the  YOUNGER GENERATION CAN DEAL WITH ALL THIS. AND I am confident down  the road it will all be fixed. There will be the next Steve Jobs, And Bill inventing fail proof internet , and a special lock box on computer for payments.  It will be different and better.  I never thought it was going to get better than  cordless phone,.... and OMG. WHO EVEN DREAMED ABOUT VOICE MAIL, CALL WAITING? And Mr Coffee???   And Microwaves???  And then cell phones??? So something will replace all we know in our so called digital lives, in a better , safer way

[Mz iMac]

@shoekitty  And, while all that goes on, I will STILL be paying my bills w/checks, still using my landline, using a cell that stays in my car for ordering food, playing games on my Amazon Tablet, burning CDs & DVDs, playing music & radio on my  MacBook Pro & iPod, playing around on my iMac.  Playing CDs on my 5 disc player.  Did I mention I still have & use a VCR?And my latest vice.......Using Amazon DOT as my personal assistant.

I use the best of BOTH worlds.

[shoekitty]

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@Mz iMac wrote:

@shoekitty  And, while all that goes on, I will STILL be paying my bills w/checks, still using my landline, using a cell that stays in my car for ordering food, playing games on my Amazon Tablet, burning CDs & DVDs, playing music & radio on my  MacBook Pro & iPod, playing around on my iMac.  Playing CDs on my 5 disc player.  Did I mention I still have & use a VCR?And my latest vice.......Using Amazon DOT as my personal assistant.

I use the best of BOTH worlds.

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@Mz iMac  I do all of that too. There is so,ething about paying bills by check.  It just keeps you focused on your finances.  The cost of things, for me it's so easy to open checkbook and check date and such of bills We have paid. It's so fast, accurate and right there , takes a minute. Actually , after 35 years I passed the job to my husband when he retired. I did have much of old stuff converted to CD and dvd.  I love those.