Bulk email vs. bulk snail mail

Conversation just had over the cube wall with my coworker Darryl began with him asking me my perception of email I receive that says "Dear Alex" but continues with generic content--basically bulk email that has been "personalized" with my name (apparently he had just received one).

I gave a fairly generic answer, in that I see it as bulk mail, don't pay it much mind, etc. Then asked him. Darryl said it annoyed him when bulk emails use his name--it is a ruse and he sees around it. BUT, if a piece of bulk paper mail doesn't have his name, he feels it is rude, basically because it should.

So the perceptions of the two media are different, at least in his case and I imagine many others (I just throw almost all of them away, though slightly more amused when they get my name wrong). Others?

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