Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Economy in ruins is saving the planet

I won't harp on this whole "bailout" thing, because quite frankly I could use a little less credit these days to keep me under control - Christmas season is approaching and my credit card companies love me this time of year!

I will make one observation - I used to work in the Direct Marketing Industry and I would tell people junk mail was an indication that our world was getting more targeted and the right people were finding you through the mailbox instead of the inbox and I liked that - I loathe spam.

Until one day I counted how many invitations by mail I got to apply for credit - whether it be credit cards, home equity loans, car loans, you-name-it. And then I realized I had more credit than I possibly needed and these people didn't know a thing about me! There were days when close to a dozen pieces of mail would arrive ready to consolidate all my bills by including the blank checks, along with pre-approved notices from American Express Blue, Green, Purple and Silver. But in the past few months I've noticed something. More catalogs are arriving (back to the Christmas season) but a lot less invitations.

So, Thank You failed credit market for helping to both freeze up the banks offering loans and credit, and saving the trees by cutting down on the number of solicitations I get each day. If you continue to spiral downward, we may all have empty mailboxes some day and that would certainly be best for the planet.

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