If I put half as much time and emotional truth-digging into my actual writing as I do into answering, "why do you want to unsubscribe to our emails? (optional)", I'd be a successful writer.
HAHA. No, I wouldn't. But I'd get a lot more writing done.
HAHA. No, I wouldn't.
That question they ask when you unsubscribe - "WHY IN THE NAME OF HOLY GOD WOULD YOU WANT TO DO THIS TO US?" (maybe that's just how I read it) - cannot be answered briefly. I cannot ignore it. They want to know. They deserve to know. I'm not going to just ghost them. I'm not an asshole. When you break up with someone, you gotta own it.
At least with JJill and Nordstrom Rack, leaving isn't personal. I have enough white linen, is a truthful answer, albeit not one they want to hear. And I always mention the myriad items I've bought in the past that I still love, lest they worry they've let me down. My theme is more of, it's not you, it's me, as if though their clothes are too good for me and I'll only bring them down.
Unsubscribing from the important stuff, however, is torture.
I just broke up with OxFam. OxFam. The drought in the Horn of Africa people. And the National Wildlife organization. I'm a monster. But, but...but the EMAILS!
I also unsubscribed from Julian Castro this morning, although I don't even know how I got on his email list in the first place.
I unsubscribed from Ditch Mitch even though ditching Mitch is a priority with my money. I just hated seeing his stupid name on my email list.
I cut it off with HIAS ("Welcome The Stranger"), and then went crawling back because those photos of the children. And what kind of person won't welcome the stranger? I unsubscribed from RAICES and re-subscribed literally two minutes later. Then I sent them a generous donation to make up for my brief transgression.
I'm willing to do a lot for the Revolution but deleting thirty or forty emails every morning from organizations that are doing important, essential work - work that literally saves lives - is hard. I feel so bad. I swear, I promise to donate money every week if they would stop sending me emails. Especially the ones that have subject lines like, "Hey Ann, I've really missed you..." I always fucking fall for those. And then, I'm all, "who the hell is Brian?" until I see the organization's logo. And then I wonder if any of my old boyfriends really do miss me. And then I feel sad.
I unsubscribed from the HRC emails but now I send them money because I was worried that unsubscribing was a microaggression against them. And it wasn't. It was only about the emails. Which I notate on my donations - "take the money, leave the emails." I think they appreciate humor.
Leaving ActBlue was super hard because they already have all my financial info and all I ever had to do was click once on "donate now". It was so easy! But I want to choose the candidates I support and - as I explained to them in the third page of my answer to their optional, "why are you unsubscribing?" - I feel more connected to the struggle when I know who is getting my money. I explained that my relationship with money is complicated, probably born from my dad never wanting us to go without because he was so poor as a child that his parents fostered him out to live with neighbors.
Their response - "thank you for your response" - seemed like they were already starting the healing process with me.
So I emailed them back with an idea for a slogan: Act Blue With Your Green.
I haven't heard back from them yet about it.
It's so hard waiting for emails.
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