Please not just me on this one

[aruan]

An editor colleague at my newspaper is looking for reporting interns and got an applicant who's a senior at a local college. They spoke, and the editor was interested enough to ask for her resume. For some reason, the candidate felt the need to snail mail her the documents.

Or would have, if she hadn't put her own address in the Send box and the editor's in the upper left. Additionally, she left a message for the editor saying the "vanilla envelope" was in the mail.

Now, I'm all for minimizing our paper usage - the world needs its trees. But I'm only about three years older than this woman, and the art of addressing an envelope isn't something I've found useless yet. But eBay and Amazon address our packages for us, so unless you're buying a gift locally or making it, when do you really send anything anymore? Has the post office really become superfluous save for junk mail and bills (not even that, really, with online banking)?

It's just... I'm only 25, but right at this moment feel very, very dated.

Comments

[meinnim.livejournal.com]

Or would have, if she hadn't put her own address in the Send box and the editor's in the upper left. Additionally, she left a message for the editor saying the "vanilla envelope" was in the mail.

I weep for the future. It's like she's never seen an actual snail mail letter.

Oh, and "vanilla envelope" reminds me of envelopes with flavored seals. I remember getting a set of envelopes with mint flavored seals instead of crappy seals that tasted like paste.

[gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com]

But do you notice the structure of an envelope? I don't know how old you are, but I've been using the Internet since age 13, and AOL was already ubiquitous. People even a few years younger than me came to it even younger, they got text messaging-enabled phones younger, their families learned that this is how they lived their lives so got e-mail addresses to keep up. For kids lucky enough to have their bills paid for, they don't notice envelopes, and many others keep their books online. With packages, it doesn't matter where the To/From labels go. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how superfluous the skill of properly addressing an envelope is, you know?

And a manila envelope (moment of truth - I had to look up how to spell that)? When's the last time any of us specifically needed one of those? In school, duo-tang folders, binders. At work, I use regular envelopes (twice in my two years there), hanging folders and binder clips. I think it's more a sign of how fast things are changing, ignorance rather than stupidity.

[meinnim.livejournal.com]

kids lucky enough to have their bills paid for, they don't notice envelopes, and many others keep their books online.

Sometimes I forget how old I am and then something like this shows me that I'm not quite keeping up with the times anymore.

When's the last time any of us specifically needed one of those?

I use manila envelopes on a weekly basis at work and forget that not everyone does. Half of my clients dislike e-mail so they prefer having their official documents sent to them via snail mail instead of in an e-mail attachment. Some of them are older but mostly, they prefer hard copies printed out and mailed to them.

Also, I mail out cards and letters to friends for their birthdays so I'm using to addressing and sending out envelopes. I know my teenage nephews rarely send anything via snail mail because everything is done via test or e-mail.

The one thing I will say is that younger folks (god, why do I feel so OLD when I say that?) will need to learn how to properly address an envelope because in some business circles, that ability is considered standard. Although that might be changing soon.

[krissi518.livejournal.com]

This post worries me. And makes me laugh. And reinforces my belief that people are getting dumber. It's like each generation is losing more and more intelligence. I worry what we'll be left with...

[gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com]

But this might well not be a case of being stupid. When's the last time you mailed something? For what purpose? I mail things to my fannish friends and my mom likes to see newspaper clippings, but other than that, I use online banking or pay over the phone. When's the last time you specifically needed a manilla envelope?

[krissi518.livejournal.com]

I actually still mail things quite frequently. And, even though I haven't used a manilla envelope recently, I still know what it is. And how to address it. :)

[paper-pusher.livejournal.com]

You know, you didn't give us the punch line. Was this thoroughly undeserving girl rejected and told never to set foot in Lakeland again? (That's what they should do. Damn y'all's free country.)

[gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com]

Sadly, the editor was more amused than dismayed. I don't think she got the job. But then I was at a bar a couple nights ago drinking off the layoff of 20 people, including reporters and other newsroom people, on Wednesday night, I watched a 26ish guy hound a woman for her MySpace address. Maybe it's us, yo. :(