The Mail

My dad complains about all the mail my parents get. He’s referring to junk mail. I’ve told him that when he orders from a catalog they know they’ve got a “live one” and will send him more catalogs and share his name and address with other companies. It doesn’t sink in.

I have found a website where I can enter information to stop catalogs being sent to my parents. It’s an endless task.

Meanwhile, when the mail comes in the house, my dad writes the date and “received” on the envelope or the contents of the envelope. I can understand this but it’s a little disconcerting to see dates from three years ago on papers lying on the desk. Also, this is a bit controlling, right?

I think it was around 2008 when I visited my folks one summer. They’d bought a shredder and mom thought I could get rid of some old documents. Wow, was I in for a surprise! She brought shopping bags of financial papers from 10 or so years back to the garage where I’d set up the shredder. I know I’ve been guilty of this, but I’d just never thought about my parents’ sensitive documents.

Then, when I had several plastic trash bags full of shredded papers ready to put in their garbage, my dad had a problem with that. He thought the trash company would see shredded documents as an opportunity to glean sensitive information. He wanted me to put the trash bags in the basement. I did as he asked, but eventually they all found their way into the garbage.