Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The junk mail chick. I was walking down my street just now after Freelance Lunch™ on Brunswick Street and I saw the chick who distributes the junk mail that I periodically discover wedged between the palings of my front fence. She looked young, like she might be an international student. She was dressed sensibly, in a T-shirt, jeans, runners and a baseball cap, assiduously stuffing rolled-up catalogues in mailboxes.
I wanted to tell her how much I enjoy reading the junk mail she distributes, how I sit down with a cup of tea and go methodically through it all. My favourite is Big Dubs (except for that stoopid baby products issue they did a while back that just frightened and depressed me), but I also like Aldi (as I have mentioned) and the really cheap furniture places, the ones where the couches look like giant wads of spat-out chewing gum. I wanted to reassure her that what she does brings me joy, and it's not just a dumb grunt job.
But then I thought that perhaps it's a coping strategy for her not to think about what happens to the junk mail she distributes - perhaps she prefers to just roll it up methodically and jam it in fences and mailboxes, and that's the end of it. So I didn't say anything to her in the end. But now I might make a cup of tea and go through today's catalogues.
EDIT: Oh man, these were some great catalogues. The Big Dubs one had some cute T-shirts and hats that I might go in and check out. There was a Zamels jewellers one about watches - they were all blinged out, it was great. There was Fantastic Furniture which had a standalone pantry, with doors, from $99, and then Plush Furniture, whose leather sofas I pored over with much absorption. Would I go the Helvetica, the Duxton or the Melbourne? The Melbourne is that boxy design that might date badly, the Duxton has nice soft armrests you could fall asleep on, but the Helvetica has a graceful shape from the front. But could I stomach owning a couch named after such a generic font?
I wanted to tell her how much I enjoy reading the junk mail she distributes, how I sit down with a cup of tea and go methodically through it all. My favourite is Big Dubs (except for that stoopid baby products issue they did a while back that just frightened and depressed me), but I also like Aldi (as I have mentioned) and the really cheap furniture places, the ones where the couches look like giant wads of spat-out chewing gum. I wanted to reassure her that what she does brings me joy, and it's not just a dumb grunt job.
But then I thought that perhaps it's a coping strategy for her not to think about what happens to the junk mail she distributes - perhaps she prefers to just roll it up methodically and jam it in fences and mailboxes, and that's the end of it. So I didn't say anything to her in the end. But now I might make a cup of tea and go through today's catalogues.
EDIT: Oh man, these were some great catalogues. The Big Dubs one had some cute T-shirts and hats that I might go in and check out. There was a Zamels jewellers one about watches - they were all blinged out, it was great. There was Fantastic Furniture which had a standalone pantry, with doors, from $99, and then Plush Furniture, whose leather sofas I pored over with much absorption. Would I go the Helvetica, the Duxton or the Melbourne? The Melbourne is that boxy design that might date badly, the Duxton has nice soft armrests you could fall asleep on, but the Helvetica has a graceful shape from the front. But could I stomach owning a couch named after such a generic font?
