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Enough About War and Politics — Let's Talk About Paper
by James Glaser May 14, 2008 I want to talk about something that really bugs me, and I bet it bugs you, too. That would be, paper, paperwork, and the accumulation of paper around your office and house. I don't remember exactly when it was but something President Ronald Reagan did that endeared him to many Americans was The Paperwork Reduction Act, created sometime in the 1980s. President Reagan was trying to cut down the use of paper by the federal government and those dealing with the government. Well, surprise, it didn't work, but he did try. I remember one of the first loans I took out at the bank in my town in Northern Minnesota about thirty some years ago, and all of the paperwork was done on one page. The banker typed it out with carbon paper between two forms. He got the original, and I got the copy. Today you can't even apply for a small loan at a bank, because there is so much government mandated paperwork that it isn't worth the bank's time. When you buy real estate you get all the paperwork in a folder, a thick folder. Yes, like everyone else, I get new offers for credit cards in the mail it seems every day. I understand those companies are trying to make a buck. What bothers me is that the three companies I have credit cards with keep sending me offers, too. If I am not using the card enough, they write to me to tell me of a credit line increase. Then they write to me with an offer to monitor my card for fraud. Then they send a letter telling me I can choose a lower interest payment or a cash back plan that is good for six months. I know these people are trying to make an extra buck too, but they must be spending millions on all these letters. And those letters add to my pile of paperwork to look at and sort. Now when I get these letters, I have to worry about somebody else looking at them if I toss them in the recycle bin. So then I have to buy a shredder. I had a shredder, but it could only do one page at a time, so to save time I needed the "new and improved" model. This new one even shreds credit cards. The IRS tells us to keep our important paper work for seven years. Just how much do you think American citizens, corporations, and small businesses spend on storing and monitoring all this paperwork? You know many businesses have to hire extra people just to handle their paperwork. Some days when I stop at my bank there is a big truck parked in the parking lot that houses a huge mobile paper shredder. Who knows what that costs, but that is one small reason banks pay so little interest on savings accounts. When I was a kid (pre-shredding days) my pass book paid me 5 ½ % interest. I can't get that on a CD today. As you might have guessed by now, I have been dealing with paperwork today, and like it usually does, it fried me. I have paperwork at home and paperwork at work. I can't even clean out my wallet without thinking are these receipts for work or home? I can't throw anything in the trash, because somebody might use that information to charge things on my account, or even open new accounts. From right here I can see a "File Storage Box Commercial Strength," which are sold by the millions. On the side of the box there is a place to put what the files are, the dates, and the "destroy date." You have to know that thousands of people periodically have bonfires to get rid of out-of-date paper work. Yes, it would be better for the environment if they shredded the paper and recycled it, but for so many Americans, time is money, and if you are trying to make ends meet, time is everything. You might think that computers save on the amount of paper we use, but I doubt that. Almost every computer has a printer, and just think of all the articles you print out to show someone or for research, and then you have stacks of used paper all around your desk. There is a reason that office supply stores devote so many square feet of sales floor to paper products. Heck, some stores don't even put their white copy paper on the shelf. They have it on pallets on the floor with a big sale sign. I don't want to go all environmental here, but as we all know, paper comes from trees. And to get paper as white as we want it, we have to run it through a lot of bleach. I worked at a Boise Cascade Paper Mill in International Falls Minnesota, and let me tell you—paper mills pollute. No ifs, ands, or buts there. I did my bit with my paperwork today, and for a few days I'll let it pile up again. Being a one-man operation, I can't afford someone to take that job from me. So, in a few days I'll get fried again trying to keep up with all the paper, or better yet, maybe I'll have myself a bonfire. I could get out some hotdogs, and make some s'mores. Who knows, maybe paper reduction can be fun. |
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