# Stop delivering fucking Phone Books! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 20, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291 "2006-10-20T22:23:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/1 "2006-10-20T22:23:58Z")
Yo, whatever-agency-is-doing-this: I don’t need another fucking phone book. Thanks, but fucking **TEN** Yellow Pages is quite enough. I don’t ask for these giant paper-wasting tomes, and I don’t need fucking TEN of them. Actually, I don’t need ANY of them, seeing as how I use my handy-dandy Intarweb Device for that sort of thing. This week I got three. Three more. THREE MORE FUCKING FIVE POUND YELLOW PAGES!!! They go directly into the recycle bin - can we cut out the middle man here? **FUCK!!** ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/2 "2006-10-20T22:25:16Z")
Word. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/3 "2006-10-20T22:51:22Z")
When I read the title, I was really hoping it would be a completely absurd number of phonebooks, just truckloads of phone books piling onto the poster’s lawn. Ten, however, is still way too goddamn many. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/4 "2006-10-20T22:54:23Z")
_We’re sorry for the error, sir, and will be happy to deliver the requested ten phone books to your home tomorrow._ ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/5 "2006-10-20T22:55:35Z")
[QUOTE=Lamar Mundane] Word. [/QUOTE] That’s what I came here to say. When we moved out of our house we must’ve recycled about a dozen of 'em. Anyone even _use_ phone books anymore? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/6 "2006-10-20T23:02:26Z")
[QUOTE=koeeoaddi] Anyone even _use_ phone books anymore? [/QUOTE] I do. But I don’t need them from four different companies. I keep the best one (Dex, for any who might care), and toss the rest as soon as they hit my door. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/7 "2006-10-20T23:14:08Z")
Is there a “Do Not Deliver Phone Books” list, akin to the “Do Not Call” list? And while we’re at it, how about a “No Junk Mail” list?! ---
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/8 "2006-10-20T23:58:46Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] I do. But I don’t need them from four different companies. I keep the best one (Dex, for any who might care), and toss the rest as soon as they hit my door. [/QUOTE] I did, once. My toilet overflowed. Didn’t have any rags handy, so I ripped the covers off three hefty phone books and plopped the soft, thick inner books on the bathroom floor. The pages sopped the water right up. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/9 "2006-10-21T00:01:34Z")
[QUOTE=Smeghead] And while we’re at it, how about a “No Junk Mail” list?! [/QUOTE] Try the Direct Marketing Association’s [Mail Preference Service](https://www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing). ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/10 "2006-10-21T00:04:35Z")
I don’t think I’ve used one more than maybe twice in the last 5 or 6 years, but I don’t want them to stop delivering them because then I won’t have anything quite so nifty to rip apart with my bare hands to impress hot chicks with at the bar. Every lady loves her a man who can tear a phone book in half. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tashabot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tashabot/32/6250_2.png) [@tashabot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tashabot)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/11 "2006-10-21T02:04:38Z")
I’m the opposite - I had to steal someone else’s phone book because the phone company refused to deliver me one, and wouldn’t tell me where I could go pick one up. If you lived near me, I totally would have taken one or two of your ten off your hands. 🙂 ~Tasha ---
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/12 "2006-10-21T02:41:38Z")
TEN? Seriously, that’s crazy. Are they from different companies, at least? ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/13 "2006-10-21T04:43:03Z")
I love having a phone book around. The more the better, as once one is used by my wife or I, the next is needed as the previous one is instantly lost until the next one is delivered. It’s some sort of weird Twilight Zone deal. I’ll never understand it. Call me old or old school, it’s a lot easier to grab the thing to look up an addy or number than searching for it online. Get a stopwatch and time me to anyone that wants to search for it, and I’ll win. Of course, this counts for local stuff. If we’re talking about a number out of state, I’ll still tend to use 411. It’s a clash of generations. It’s what you’re used to. 50 years from now, when us dinosaurs are making your oil, phone books may not exist. But I’d lay money that they will. People like a tactile medium. They’ll always want a phone book around. (Not “phonebook” as in what your cell terms it.) 10 is excessive. Sounds like 10 companies are trying to gain market share. Take the extras and recycle them at a place that pays for phone books and newspapers. Hell, even up here where there are 2 battling it out (including Dex), they pay for the unwanteds, an extra on the doorstep isn’t a big deal. BTW, we have an unlisted number and use Vonage. There is no other reason for a phone book to be delivered here other than the place physically exists. No worries. Drop a bunch off. They include the menus of most restaurants. Much easier to throw the thing in a desk drawer for reference than to organize an assload of “flyer” menus from the area restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/14 "2006-10-21T14:27:57Z")
But nothing quite matches the unadulterated joy of grabbing the phone book and jumping up and down while giving a Naben like scream: “The new phone book’s here! The new phone book’s here!” (Yes, I actually do this) On a note that I am sure is unrelated, my wife has started introducing herself to the neighbors as single. Weird, huh?. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/15 "2006-10-21T14:53:12Z")
[QUOTE=duffer] I love having a phone book around. The more the better, as once one is used by my wife or I, the next is needed as the previous one is instantly lost until the next one is delivered. It’s some sort of weird Twilight Zone deal. I’ll never understand it. [/QUOTE] Us, too. It’s amazing how I may know we have at least five or six phone books somewhere in the house, but not a one can be found when needed – or, if one turns up, it’s several years old and completely out of date. There is a solution, however – move. Last year when we moved out of the house we’d lived in for four years, it was truly astonishing how many phone books came out of hiding. I think they live in the space warp with the lost socks. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/16 "2006-10-21T15:43:26Z")
I don’t think I’ve used a phone book more than once in the last few years. I usually stack them in the bottom of the coat closet and toss them out once a year. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/17 "2006-10-21T17:17:59Z")
Completely agree. In addition, the last few times I did use a phone book, the number I was looking for was not even in the book. None of them were unlisted numbers. Some were businesses, some were people. Seemed pretty bizarre to me. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/18 "2006-10-21T17:49:22Z")
Mine go straight from the front porch where they’re delivered to the recycle bin without even getting removed from the bag in which they were delivered. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/19 "2006-10-21T18:59:53Z")
[QUOTE=DeadlyAccurate] Mine go straight from the front porch where they’re delivered to the recycle bin without even getting removed from the bag in which they were delivered. [/QUOTE] Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291/20 "2006-10-21T19:27:07Z")
I use the phone book. One of the legs on my bed borked and the phone book is exactly the right height. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-delivering-fucking-phone-books/377291.md?page=2)