Cohousing-L Mailing List: Mail [ was Urban cohousing: Common house on roof?]

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Jan 10, 2008, at 11:40 AM, Bob Morrison wrote:

>  There
> is also a privacy issue. I think the only practical way to do it  
> would be to
> put the mailroom, including a conversation area, on the first floor  
> and
> relying on things other than picking up mail to draw people to the  
> rooftop
> CH.

When we first moved in we were still a construction site and had no  
mail boxes. I put up a bookcase in my unit near the door so I could  
receive and sort the mail daily. (The postmaster had to come out and  
approve me and my bookcase.) Privacy is a big issue when handling  
other people's mail. After four months or so of sorting mail, with no  
effort on my part, I knew things like:

1. Which of the people in a couple handles all their finances,  
magazine subscriptions, etc.

2. What schools people went to and probably donated money to because  
they get alumni bulletins regularly.

3. Who gets personally hand-addressed mail from a particular person on  
a daily or weekly basis.

4. Who gets mail repeatedly which are probably reminders to pay bills.

5. Who goes to which doctor (and I could have looked up the names to  
find out what kind of doctor they were.)

6. Who rarely even picks up their mail.

7, Who has mail forwarded from an address other than the one they say  
they used to live at.

8. How many credit cards they use as well as where they have checking  
accounts.

There is more but you get the idea. I don't think you want to do this.  
It's hard for anyone to have this information, as well as the privacy  
issues for the person receiving the mail.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing,Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org