Amanda (and why I hate the post office part 2)

First, here is the latest picture of Amanda. We had our doctor's appointment today, and, since our last appointment 3 weeks ago, Amanda has gained 11 pounds . . .for a grand total of 23 pounds. Bjarni, our midwife, was able to feel the head and the little bum by massaging Amanda's belly. He is positioned exactly how he is supposed to be. This Friday will be 30 weeks. Holy Crap.

I wrote about the post office before, and how they are unfair to keep raising rates instead of trying to compete in our capitalistic society . . .so I wont get into that again. But what bothers me lately ( and I have noticed a steady increase in fact) is junkmail.

Its not so much that I mind the chore of actually picking it up and throwing it in the recycling bin that bothers me . . .but its the fact that "I" need to be the "responsible one" and DO the recycling. The government loves to regulate everything--particularly when it comes to the environment. They regulate packaging on goods, smoke stacks on factories, automobile emissions, dumping into sewers, state car inspections . . .you name it. But has the government ever stopped to consider how many TREES are killed each DAY in order to produce paper on which to print and circulate junk mail? And then, out of the other side of their mouths, the government tells us the importance of recycling . . .

The post office, after all, is a government agency, so why dont they regulate themselves and the volume of junk mail that they allow to be delivered? Unfortunately, I think they would . . .if they didnt make money off of it. . . .

I firmly believe that if the post office (i.e. the government) didnt make money off of junk mail, then they would surely put some kind of sanction on it (have you ever notice there are no "do not mail" lists to partner up with the "do not call" lists to which you can subscribe?). This, without question, is just as much of an invasion of privacy.

But I think what bothers me the most is the hypocrisy involved here; the government loves to regulate "everyone else."The fact remains that the post office is making big money off of the "pre-sorted first class" fees that car dealerships, drug stores, Wal Marts, and other businesses PAY in order to have junk mail delivered to your house--they have a pretty good system going, and frankly, its just plain extortion. And some of it is very deceptive, in fact--we often get "real" looking envelopes with "real" looking stamps . . .that just turn out to be credit card applications, etc.

If the local post office suddenly had to become as accountable for environmental vigilance as everyone else did, they would lose a lot of revenue.

But then again, they could always just raise the price of stamps, right?