Tell me about your mail
Out of curiosity, I figured I'd solicit the help of anyone who's willing to tell me about the mail they receive in a week.
I was wondering about how the mail a given address receives compares to what other addresses receive. I was also curious about what exactly comes in the mail to my household, so I decided that I'd start recording an inventory of that for at least a week (starting on Monday, March 30).
What I want you to do:
Take an inventory of the mail your household receives each day for a week. You may be as detailed as you wish. To protect your privacy, you can be vague about the specifics of a given piece of mail -- I don't need to know the intimate details of a medical bill you receive, but the broader category "medical bill" would suffice. Or if there are mail items that are just too personal and you do not wish to reveal them to me at all, that's also up to you, but ideally omissions like this would be limited.
Please record the number of mail pieces you receive each day. If there are multiple people in your household, please break down the mail by recipient -- you don't necessarily have to give me their names, but give me an idea of their relation to you: e.g. "spouse/significant other," "child," "roommate/housemate," etc.
Please also record the general category or purpose of each piece of mail -- be specific enough to at least give me an idea, but only as detailed as you're comfortable with sharing. If you wish, you can also give me an idea of the sender of the mail. (e.g. "letter from a friend," "bank statement," "census information," "coupon for a shoe store," etc.)
If you receive "junk" mail, give me an idea of what it is -- be a little more specific than just "junk mail." Something like "credit card advertising" or "Comcast advertising" or "retirement community advertising" would work.
If you receive packages, tell me at least vaguely what they contain -- as mentioned before, you only have to tell me what you're comfortable sharing about the mail.
One more thing -- please tell me about the nature of your mailbox. Is it inside or outside? An individual box, or is it part of a cluster of boxes? Is it right at your door, or is it down the street a little bit? Maybe it's in your building's lobby? Do you receive your mail at a P.O. box? And how often do you typically check the mail?
You can also include any other details about the mail that you feel are relevant.
Email me the data you collect at RTAYL537 [at] gmail.com. Make the subject line something obvious like "mail project data," please. You can email me daily updates or just a cumulative email at the end of the week, just get it to me somehow. The data can just be written as a list in the body of the email; I don't need a fancy spreadsheet or anything, unless you would like to make a spreadsheet.
I look forward to learning about the kinds of mail other people receive! Thank you in advance if you decide to contribute! Any questions can be directed to my email or via Twitter.
ETA: Theoretical example of what I'd like you to include (at least) in your data. If you want to include more detail/context than this, you're very welcome to! Note: I did not open the mail addressed to my family members; I gleaned the following information/data from the outside of the envelopes.
My household consists of me, my mother and my sister. (mail recipient indicated in parentheses)
Monday:
- life insurance ad (mother)
- postcard from friend (me)
- brochure for performing arts venue (mother)
- small package from friend (sister)
- mail about the census (resident)
Tuesday:
no mail/letters, two packages
- a prescription (mother) [this is the level of detail that is specific enough -- I obviously don't need to know the exact medication it is and whatnot]
- my questionable online purchase: consisting of a small skateboard and a set of 8 hair clips (me)
I was wondering about how the mail a given address receives compares to what other addresses receive. I was also curious about what exactly comes in the mail to my household, so I decided that I'd start recording an inventory of that for at least a week (starting on Monday, March 30).
What I want you to do:
Take an inventory of the mail your household receives each day for a week. You may be as detailed as you wish. To protect your privacy, you can be vague about the specifics of a given piece of mail -- I don't need to know the intimate details of a medical bill you receive, but the broader category "medical bill" would suffice. Or if there are mail items that are just too personal and you do not wish to reveal them to me at all, that's also up to you, but ideally omissions like this would be limited.
Please record the number of mail pieces you receive each day. If there are multiple people in your household, please break down the mail by recipient -- you don't necessarily have to give me their names, but give me an idea of their relation to you: e.g. "spouse/significant other," "child," "roommate/housemate," etc.
Please also record the general category or purpose of each piece of mail -- be specific enough to at least give me an idea, but only as detailed as you're comfortable with sharing. If you wish, you can also give me an idea of the sender of the mail. (e.g. "letter from a friend," "bank statement," "census information," "coupon for a shoe store," etc.)
If you receive "junk" mail, give me an idea of what it is -- be a little more specific than just "junk mail." Something like "credit card advertising" or "Comcast advertising" or "retirement community advertising" would work.
If you receive packages, tell me at least vaguely what they contain -- as mentioned before, you only have to tell me what you're comfortable sharing about the mail.
One more thing -- please tell me about the nature of your mailbox. Is it inside or outside? An individual box, or is it part of a cluster of boxes? Is it right at your door, or is it down the street a little bit? Maybe it's in your building's lobby? Do you receive your mail at a P.O. box? And how often do you typically check the mail?
You can also include any other details about the mail that you feel are relevant.
Email me the data you collect at RTAYL537 [at] gmail.com. Make the subject line something obvious like "mail project data," please. You can email me daily updates or just a cumulative email at the end of the week, just get it to me somehow. The data can just be written as a list in the body of the email; I don't need a fancy spreadsheet or anything, unless you would like to make a spreadsheet.
I look forward to learning about the kinds of mail other people receive! Thank you in advance if you decide to contribute! Any questions can be directed to my email or via Twitter.
ETA: Theoretical example of what I'd like you to include (at least) in your data. If you want to include more detail/context than this, you're very welcome to! Note: I did not open the mail addressed to my family members; I gleaned the following information/data from the outside of the envelopes.
My household consists of me, my mother and my sister. (mail recipient indicated in parentheses)
Monday:
- life insurance ad (mother)
- postcard from friend (me)
- brochure for performing arts venue (mother)
- small package from friend (sister)
- mail about the census (resident)
Tuesday:
no mail/letters, two packages
- a prescription (mother) [this is the level of detail that is specific enough -- I obviously don't need to know the exact medication it is and whatnot]
- my questionable online purchase: consisting of a small skateboard and a set of 8 hair clips (me)
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