Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Envelopes
Why can't businesses supply envelopes that fit the item they want mailed? Or if they can't supply an envelop at least make their product fit existing envelopes. One example is our water bill. For years, it came as an oversized postcard type of bill with a tear off portion to return with the check. The tear off portion was too large to fit into a normal envelope, so that you had to fold over about 1/2" of it to fit.
Then there's a lot of places that offer membership cards about the size of a business card - note, I said about. You'd think if anything, they'd make them just a smidgen smaller. Nope. The American Legion card is made about 3/16" larger than a business card. The buy X number and get free something is a good candidate for this size oddity as well. There's a coffee shop nearby that has a buy 20 get one free card that is just bigger than a business card - and there's a theatre here that has one just as odd sized.
Today I had to mail out a rather large packet of paperwork of whose instructions required the mailing of said packet in the supplied envelope. First off, the paperwork I had to fill out was legal size, and you guessed it, the envelope was standard sized. And the packet of paper I had, legal sized and otherwise, was about a 1/2" thick. So I had this big ol' pack of paper and nothing to send it in. Staples only sells legal sized envelopes in boxes of a hundred or so. Target didn't even carry any. I finally bought some kraft paper and packing tape and made my own. Think about it. In this day and age, I'm back to constructing envelopes like it was 1842 with paper and paste.
