The Ironic Postman

One story that seems to have made it into just about every paper this week in the UK is the story of a postman who, having had enough of junk mail, decided to take matters into his own hands.

Unfortunately, though the postman in question was no doubt acting in what he considered to be the best interests of his customers, his actions surely serve to highlight the need for each of us to understand the overall context of our intended actions before our actions have actually been realised by way of deed.

Junk mail is an increasing trend in modern society as advertisers look to, in essence, force their products on you by having them placed into your home at your very feet without prior consent. In the UK alone an astounding 21 million items of junk mail are delivered every year – which, for the environmentalists amongst you, is the equivalent of 3.3 millions trees which translates to 550 thousand tons of waste.

The postman in question, who has since been suspended from his job pending a disciplinary hearing, decided that he would assist homeowners on his beat by dropping them a leaflet through their doors explaining how they could act to reduce the levels of junk mail they receive and, whilst I can understand - and I would go as far as to say, applaud - the sentiments behind his direct action there was one thing he missed out on his leaflet of anti junk mail measures, and that was how to stop your postman delivering his own junk mail through your door.

A postman delivering an unsolicited leaflet detailing how to reduce junk mail - how can the blissful irony of his actions not have escaped him?

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