Going Postal

Incoming from The Telegraph:

Finland’s postal service is to begin opening household mail and sending scanned copies of letters by email to cut down on costs and pollution.

Yep:

Not even the most intimate love letters, payslips, overdue bills and other personal messages will be spared under the controversial scheme.
The service, aimed at cutting the number of postmen and reducing CO2 emissions in the sparsely-populated country, is being offered on a voluntary basis initially.
Volunteers will receive an email or a mobile phone text message as soon as their paper mail has been opened, scanned and sent as an electronic image to a secure digital mailbox, to which only the intended recipient has access.

This is nothing new to us in South Africa. In fact, it seems to me that this Finnish system is based on the SAPO setup which has been running for many years. Our local version is  less helpful and more annoying though.
Here, letters and parcels are scanned for any items of value which are then removed to cut down on deliveries and recipient happiness. Nothing is spared this treatment: birthday cards, cash, kid’s presents from overseas etc.

Further parallels with Finland’s trial exist as the sender will send emails and text messages to the recipient complaining about the thieving bastards at the Post Office.

4 thoughts on “Going Postal

  1. May I ask a question?

    What happens to the opened mail?

    1. Will it be burned? (More sea o 2)
    2. Will it be stored? (Who is going to pay the storage cost?)
    3. Will it be re-cycled? (How much money wil I get from the re-sale of MY (many) statements and reminders ?

    Sorry, that was three questions …

  2. Sorry, I knew I had one more.

    What will happen if my Granny send me cash for my birthday and Xmas? (One R50-note between a folded sheet of blank paper.)

    Granny dont have a bank account, she and Grandpa sell milk and vegetables on the farm for cash, she pays all her accounts in cash, and only leaves the farm once a year for a visit to the Tax Man.

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