# Pete Ricketts, A Man of Integrity Honors The Spirit Of The Law

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-ricketts-a-man-of-integrity-honors-the-spirit-of-the-law/355397>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [May 4, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-ricketts-a-man-of-integrity-honors-the-spirit-of-the-law/355397 "2006-05-04T15:23:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-ricketts-a-man-of-integrity-honors-the-spirit-of-the-law/355397/61 "2006-05-05T18:23:03Z")

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[QUOTE=saoirse]  
But your driveway is not your phone. Your mailbox is also private property. If you don’t want sales pitches in it, you can stop them from coming. But you still get campaign fliers.  
[/QUOTE]

Likewise, when you use the Canada Post direct mail tool, there are two options: everyone except those who have opted out, and all addresses. Only government and election campaigns are allowed to use the second.

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**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-ricketts-a-man-of-integrity-honors-the-spirit-of-the-law/355397/62 "2006-05-05T18:39:27Z")

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[QUOTE=saoirse]  
Your mailbox is also private property.  
[/QUOTE]

Er, no it isn’t – if it were, it would be legal for private parties (who have the recipient’s permission) to leave stuff in it.

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**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-ricketts-a-man-of-integrity-honors-the-spirit-of-the-law/355397/63 "2006-05-05T20:21:03Z")

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Your mailbox _is_ your private property. You are responsible for providing and maintaining it. _The space inside it_ belongs to the Postal Service, though.

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**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-ricketts-a-man-of-integrity-honors-the-spirit-of-the-law/355397/64 "2006-05-05T20:45:25Z")

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[QUOTE=Weirddave]  
… When a telemarketer calls me, as soon as I realize what the call is for, I say “Listen, I’m not interested, but thank you so much for calling! I hope the next person you reach is looking for your services. Please take me off your list, and have a fantastic day!” And then I HANG UP. It takes me about 15 seconds out of my day. How fucking hard is that? …  
[/QUOTE]

My preference is, when asked for a minute of my time, is to say “Fine. I make about $90,000 per year. For _you_, since you’re obviously such a nice person, I’m willing to sell you my time for only $45/hour. I’ll accept PayPal, or a cashier’s check. You can call me back after you’ve arranged payment.”

It’s great fun hearing them stammer and splutter as they frantically page through their call script, trying to figure out what canned reply to give back to me.

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