Any Club That Would Have Me For a Member...

Yesterday in my mailbox, I received a mailing from the "Consumer Product Survey of America", located in Buffalo, New York. Everyone else in my building received the same mailing. I know this not because I looked in all of their mailboxes, but because the mailing was too big to fit into our little slots and so were left on top of the mailboxes for us to take.

I opened the mailing to run the pages through my shredder, as I do with all mail that has any identifying information. The following paragraph caught my eye:

"Dear Shopper,

Once in a while we carefully select individuals in your community -- those whom we feel represent the smartest, most value conscious customers. Then we use some of our research budget to find out exactly what these smart shoppers really want. If our hunch is right, you are such a person."

Oooo! A faceless company thinks I'm smart! And value conscious! Yet they couldn't seem to remember my name when they addressed the letter!

And what a coincidence that everyone else living in my building is also in this elite group of the "smartest, most value conscious customers"!