A disappointing freebie

I am always sending away for freebies. I love getting samples of products. Since most of them take several weeks to arrive, I often forget that I have even sent for them.

This past week, for example, I have been surprised by all kinds of the goodies in my mailbox. I received a DVD, a pedometer, a binder, and coupons for free yogurt. So I was pretty excited to see a Gillette Fusion in my mailbox Saturday.

As I was about to crack open the box, I noticed it was labeled "Here's your 18th Birthday Gift from Gillette." (There's no one in my house that age.) And then I noticed that the package wasn't addressed to me. My mail carrier had delivered the Fusion to the wrong address! No free Fusion for me! So sad!

My mail carrier frequently delivers this guy's mail to us. We have the same last name as this guy, although we're not related. I've gotten enough of this guy's mail mistakenly delivered to me to be pretty certain there are NO 18-year-olds in his house.

A friend of mine said, "It's a freebie, the guy's not even 18 and probably doesn't have an 18-year-old son, either."

But I can't do that. It is NOT my mail. It's illegal to keep someone else's mail, not to mention unethical. Plus... I'm not an 18-year-old male, either! I am not entitled to this freebie just because my mail carrier made a mistake.

I will be putting the Fusion back in the mail Monday with a note that it was delivered to the wrong address.

The whole incident made me think. It is wrong to send for freebies that you don't really qualify for. It's wrong to send for freebies you don't have any intention of using. It's wrong to send for multiples of the same freebie. If you abuse companies' generosity, they won't give out freebies and great coupons anymore.

Just because something is free, doesn't mean you can ignore what's right.