Man has always been fascinated by the victory of underdogs. David verses Goliath or Gandhi against the political establishment are epic battles in which the little guy won against seemingly impossible odds!
My Dad is more tenacious than any dog on any bone. When he has something in mind he's as hard headed and as big a stickler as any man you're ever likely to meet. Although he's now 95 years old not much has changed.
Sometimes those qualities can be very frustrating and irritating to his family but in the battle he waged with Canada Post he needed them and how! That's him below a few years ago at the age of 91!
Would you Like to Know The Details of This Epic Battle?
As most of you likely know, a huge portion of the mail that arrives at our homes from the Mail Service is so-called junk mail. Thirty years ago, when his battle started, there was no provision for home owners to refuse unaddressed mail.
Flyers, free "newspapers", little stuffed envelopes and the like filled up my Dad's mail box and he was vexed! You don't want to light a fire under a retired stickler because he's got nothing but time to wage his battles! Both Canada Post and The Canadian Government were about to find this out!
The First Stages of The Battle Plan!
He put up a sign on his mailbox that said "PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE UNADDRESSED MAIL". The Post office said they would leave it anyway because they were paid by their clients to do so. The battle lines were now drawn. Little did they know with whom they were dealing! He started a campaign of many phone calls and he wrote many letters. Once again all to no avail!
- Would he give up?
- Would you have given up?
- What was he going to do?
- What would you have done?
A Thorough Battle Plan of Attrition Was Then Conceived and Executed!
Don't forget what I warned you! Never mess with a retired stickler that has plenty of time on his hands!
My Dad made use of a little known provision. In Canada, you can send mail to many different entities at the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa without paying for postage!
Dutifully, every week, week after week, month after month, year after year my Dad would put every piece of junk mail into envelopes, address them to members of parliament and mail them off. He did this for over 10 years!
In the meantime he continued to put up a sign on his mailbox, call and send letters to his local post office, tell the mailman that he didn't want junk mail and write to his local member of parliament!
Canada Post and The Canadian Government Changed The Law!
Finally the law was changed and now if you put a sign on your mail box that you don't want unaddressed mail delivered the postal carrier must comply!
Of course I can't say with certainty that my dad was responsible for this change but he sure would have driven me to make the needed adjustments!
Points to Ponder
- Do you know any hard headed sticklers?
- Are hard headed sticklers sometimes needed?
- Would a man like that drive you crazy?
I hope that you enjoyed reading about how a persnickety pensioner drove a huge government institution to change!
Until next time,
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