to put this unsolicited Avon catalogue in the recycling bin?

[Rae36]

Came home to an Avon catalogue on the doormat. I didn't ask for it.

It has a note telling me to leave it our for collection on Sunday afternoon. The actual wording is "Leave this catalogue out on your doorstep for collection on Sunday afternoon EVEN IF YOU DONT WANT TO PLACE AN ORDER".
We're going away this weekend so I don't want to put it out tomorrow morning and have it lying there advertising the fact that we're not at home until Sunday afternoon.
The note says that if I can't put it out on Sunday afternoon I can call the person and arrange another time to collect it.

AIBU to just chuck it? I didn't ask for it, I don't want to phone a stranger up and arrange for her to collect it at a different time. Or will she come knocking on my door at some other random time looking for it? How long do I have to keep it lying around my house in case she comes back for it?

And who does she actually think she is to drop this off at my house then tell me in capital letters what to do with it?

And finally, why has this pissed me off out of all proportion

@backtowasteanotherhour

Laughing at the idea of a poor, penniless person who has no way to make some money than to leave Avon catalogues at the doors of random strangers. The all-caps bossy instructions notes are sure to soften many a heart, and the orders will come rolling in!

If someone needs money, leaving unsolicited Avon brochures is not the way to get it.

Have you ever read the desperate posts of women in here who have found themselves in terrible financial situations. Not to mention the sometimes wacky suggestions posters out forward. A pp has already stated upthread it m are a difference in tough times. There are some awful responses on this thread, tough times at the moment for many people.

Leave it on someone else's doorstep!

Anyone else's doorstep to be honest.

Wow - some really superior posters on this thread!

Just leave it out if you don't want anything.

Why all the drama?

I think you lot need to get out more - literally - if this is so upsetting and concerning.

@FuglyBitch

Why can’t you just be kind

Because “be kind” is usually shorthand for “take on additional mental load on behalf of someone else, no matter how much you already have, and don’t complain”.

I post in back out of my letterbox

It’s just someone trying to make a living. Just put a note on saying no more please. They have to pay for the catalogs so please don’t bin it, phone them to collect

[quote BrightYellowDaffodil]@FuglyBitch

Why can’t you just be kind

Because “be kind” is usually shorthand for “take on additional mental load on behalf of someone else, no matter how much you already have, and don’t complain”.[/quote]
So putting a catalogue on your doorstep is so great a mental load, that it justifies being mean, well I hope you never need support in any new ventures, because if people behaved the same way to you, you'd be pretty disappointed

Don't bin it. That just results in more catalogues being needed i.e. more paper waste.

We always put catalogues straight back outside our door when we get them, as do most of our neighbours, so this is in no way signalling that you have gone away.

I would put it in the recycling bin without a second thought

Because “be kind” is usually shorthand for “take on additional mental load on behalf of someone else, no matter how much you already have, and don’t complain”.

1. Receive catalogue through letter box
2. Open door and dump catalogue outside

Additional mental load - about 2 seconds.
Pizza flyers (which I have to take the recycling bin) are more troublesome.

@LookItsMeAgain

Leave it on someone else's doorstep!

Anyone else's doorstep to be honest.

Actually that's a good idea next time my recycling bin is getting too full

@OllyBJolly

She probably thinks she’s an entrepreneur. And that’s the tragedy

How patronising. I was just desperate. I was a single parent earning less than my outgoings. Child maintenance didn't cover childcare. Avon helped me over a very rough patch, allowing me to keep working until my salary increased and I could stop living on overdrafts and credit cards.

Mock away, all the privileged posters who can afford to look down on women trying to make a living.

I’m not mocking. I’m pointing out that many people signing up to MLM like Avon are being tricked. They have no control over “their business” and it is almost impossible to make any money (99.6% of people in MLM lose money). They are told it’s their own business.

Avon may be different to how it was when you did it. It used to have territories and was a direct selling business with no competition from the internet, but now it’s MLM anyone can sign up and it’s totally over-saturated, but they don’t tell people that. Now all overFB there are people desperately trying to shift stock. The only way anyone can earn any consistent money is by building a team (downline). It’s Avon who is mocking women.

So putting a catalogue on your doorstep is so great a mental load, that it justifies being mean, well I hope you never need support in any new ventures, because if people behaved the same way to you, you'd be pretty disappointed

The very worst thing you can do for someone suckered into an MLM is to "support them in their new venture". Because they will just get sucked in deeper, and lose even more money.

@backtowasteanotherhour

Laughing at the idea of a poor, penniless person who has no way to make some money than to leave Avon catalogues at the doors of random strangers. The all-caps bossy instructions notes are sure to soften many a heart, and the orders will come rolling in!

If someone needs money, leaving unsolicited Avon brochures is not the way to get it.

I know right. I hate this passive aggressive and manipulative bullshit, like 'I had to do Avon because I was a penniless single mum, and you can tell the women on here who have never suffered financially...'

@OllyBJolly just bore off with your offensive and presumptuous crap, assuming that posters who don't want unsolicited crap pushing through their door, and don't want 'scolding' if they lose the catalogue, have NEVER been in a situation where they are struggling financially.

How DARE you presume to know what I - and anyone else here - has been through in our lives. It's obnoxious and rude and makes you look obtuse and narrow-minded.

I didn't ask for it
I don't want it
I'm being told to do xyz with it

It's junk mail

@BrightYellowDaffodil

be kind” is usually shorthand for “take on additional mental load on behalf of someone else, no matter how much you already have, and don’t complain”.

Agree with this too.

I am SOOOO fucked off with this #BEKIND bullshit. And why, oh WHY is this fucking crap ALWAYS aimed at women?!'

You are being heartless. This is someone who maybe starting out, trying to build up a round, they have to pay for the booklets, hence wanting them back

Then they should do it properly - knock on, check if someone wants a catalogue, if yes leave one, if not move on. I’ve never been a rep but even I’d figure that basic part of the job out. If their heart was in it they’d do it right - clearly this role isn’t for them.

So everyone that sells avon is a penniless single mother trying to feed their kids?

The poster up-thread who said it got them through hard times? When was this? Early 2000s maybe?

As for be kind: What about the blokes who knock on the door in the evening selling dusters? Are we 'being kind' to them? Yes, we know they all jump out of a van at the end of the road working for a boss, and they're not 'reformed convicts' at all - but - they're trying to make money ...

Where is the ok line for someone bunging things through your door or knocking on it trying to make money? Just women? Just mothers? Just people with no other job? Or what?

It’s no wonder some people struggle with their mental load if they put this much thought into an Avon catalogue. This really isn’t something that should cause any stress at all.

don't bin, my Mum did the Avon and you have to pay for the catalogues - just leave it outside if she doesn't come by the day then i guess you could recycle

@BrownEyedGirl80

I post in back out of my letterbox

That made me giggle

Just leave it outside OP. It does not advertise you are out, because I leave things on the doorstep so that people won't bother me ringing the doorbell for me to give them the thing I can easily leave on the doorstep.

I’m not taking on the mental load of looking after/putting out a catalogue I don’t want and didn’t ask for mental load? Blimey. I just throw things in the recycling bin - no mental effort required at all. But with something like this I'd just put it back on the doorstep.

Way too much anger from some posters here over an Avon catalogue.

@KaleSlayer

It’s no wonder some people struggle with their mental load if they put this much thought into an Avon catalogue. This really isn’t something that should cause any stress at all.

Quite.