Junk Mail

I look back at all of the mail that used to bombard our household every day when we lived in America. I can’t believe the piles of mail I used to have to go through. It was like a full time job.

First, you have to go get the mail from the mail box. Then you have to open all of it. Then you have to divide it up into the appropriate piles; Which things are junk and need to be thrown in the trash? Which bills should we pay first (most Americans cannot afford to pay all bills at once)? Which ones must be delayed until next pay cheque? Which ones are overdue?

Then, you must carefully write out all of the cheques, record the amount in the cheque book, return-address each envelope, stamp each envelope, and file all bill records into the appropriate files, mainly for tax purposes.

Alhumdulillah, living out of the States is teaching me that there is Another Way. I had stressors there I wasn’t even conscious of! You would think a simple thing like the mail would be just that, a simple thing. Now that I don’t have any, I realize how unnecessarily stressful, the mail is in the States.

Here in Qatar, I go to the post office and get my mail, hmm, perhaps one time every 2 weeks. There are usually 3-4 letters; usually something from the family back home, a bank statement once in a while, and maybe one advertisement. Qatar does not provide home delivery of mail. Everyone has P.O.boxes, and there are no zip codes.

We don’t pay rent. We don’t pay utilities (electricity, water, and trash are paid for by my employer). We get a phone bill once every three months, which we pay for in-person, with cash.

It feels so great to be free of all of that mail. Wow, how could we stand it?