The Dangers of Junk Mail

The Dangers of Junk Mail

You cannot believe the piles of junk mail our elder receives. She gets a two-inch stack of it on a daily basis. The problem is that she actually reads... and responds... to it. This has become a significant financial problem.

Donation Requests: Half of the mail in her stack is one form of donation request or another. Sometimes, the charity is offering a "sweepstake." Naturally, the fine print says that you don't have to donate to win. However, the pictures and the larger print make our elder feel like she would be less than human if she didn't slip a $10 check-in each envelope.

The Dangers of Junk Mail

"Free" Magazines: "They're only a few dollars," she says. "Plus, I get a free second subscription. Wouldn't you like to read it?" First off, when you take thirty magazines a month (not an exaggeration) at $10 each, it's not a few dollars. Second, no. If I wanted to read the magazine, I'd already had my own subscription.

Book Deals: I have yet to see our elder reading a book. She's too busy reading her onslaught of magazines. Second, most of the books she orders are about topics that I paid to learn. Why spend $50 on a book that took me more than thirty years and thousands of dollars to learn? It's like ordering a medical guide and asking your son, the doctor, to approve of it.

You may wonder why I'm emphasizing these things. It's her choice to order or donate. Here's the answer: most of us aren't rich. Our elders are on severely limited, fixed incomes. Donating $10 to 15 charities a month, paying for thirty magazine subscriptions a year and buying these books at $30-$50 each eats into that income fast.

There are a few things we can try to stem this tide. I have called or e-mailed dozens of companies and nonprofit groups to get our elder off their lists. She's been added to the "do not mail" list. I've spent hours over the last six months on this... and still, they come.

Personally, I think it's time for greater action. I don't usually advocate more government. However, if I'm spending hours trying to stop the flow only to be overwhelmed by more junk, maybe someone ought to do something about it. Our elders deserve the protection and we should not have to make contacting these companies our life's work.