Weird baby related crap. Weird because I do not have a baby.

[kane_magus]

A while back, I know I made a post about receiving in the mail a couple of jars of Enfamil baby formula. Where that post is I have no clue because I cannot find it now for the life of me. Neither ljseek nor google nor myself doing a manual search through my archives looking for keywords can find it.

(EDIT)

Found it, sort of. It was in a comment in response to a post by tokoz that I wrote about it, rather than in my own journal. I think I'd intended to post about it in my own LJ, but just never got around to it for whatever reason. Oops.

(/EDIT)

Anyway, I was going to link to that post because I just got something somewhat similar in the mail today.

I got a letter from "The Research Institute Of Mother And Child Care".

Letter follows (bolding is theirs, not mine, but I italicized the whole thing):

"I am writing to ask for your help with an important survey conducted by the Research Institute of Mother and Child Care. Our Institute has conducted surveys regarding feeding materials and products related to infants for over fifty years. The results help us understand current trends and suggest improvements to the products, services, and programs available for all infants.

You are part of a small group of parents randomly selected to participate from around the country. Please be assured that we will not sell your name to anyone. And since we combine your responses with those of other parents, your answers will remain confidential.

The survey is easy and will take only a few minutes to complete. The questions apply to the youngest infant in your home, regardless of whether you breastfeed or use infant formula. Most questions can be answered by just marking the appropriate box with an "X", or by filling the appropriate space.

We value your experiences as a parent. I hope you will take a few moments to complete and return this survey in the enclosed postage-paid envelope. With your input, our research regarding infant feeding will be as complete, accurate, and useful as possible.

Thank you and best wishes to you and your baby."

I would like to reiterate (as I originally said in the other post that I cannot findfinally found): I do not have a baby. I am not a parent. I have no children. I am not married. I have not the slightest clue why I am getting stuff like this.

I plan to write this on their survey, in very large letters, with a black pen, and mail it back to them in their enclose postage-paid envelope.

Comments

[alessar.livejournal.com]

If you get anything again from them, simply write the word 'REFUSE' on it and hand it back to the postal carrier. It'll go back on their dime, and that should give them the message.

Also, I don't recall you ever making such a post. It's so weird, I'd have remembered it.

[kane-magus.livejournal.com]

I thought for sure that I had made the post and that people had even commented on it. Maybe I just dreamed that I did or something. o_O

The gist, as stated above, is that a while back I received a box with two containers of this (http://www.enfamil.com/app/iwp/Content4NoBlurb.do?dm=enf&id=/Consumer_Home/Products/Family_of_Formulas/Enfamil_LIPIL&iwpst=B2C&ls=0&csred=1) inside. I found it rather strange that I would have gotten something like that, given that I don't have a baby, but since they didn't appear to be asking me to pay for it or anything, I didn't bother to do anything about it.

Well, actually I packed the stuff up and took it home with me when I went to North Carolina back in December, to give to my niece (who recently had a baby this past May). I doubt she had any real use for it, but whatever.

I've gotten some other baby and parenting related things from various sources from time to time since then. This is only the latest.

In addition, my parents received a phone call at their home (either shortly before or shortly after I got the Enfamil stuff, I can't recall which) asking to speak to me, and it was the same sort of baby-related thing. I don't know why they had my old NC phone number when they had my Washington mailing address. My parents didn't give them my number out here, for which I am ever grateful, and they were given a number for me to call, which I haven't called and don't plan to call. My sister asked me if I cared if she called them, however, which I didn't really care one way or another so I told her to go ahead if she wanted to. She called them to ask them what was going on and tried to get them to take my name off of their list, but they wouldn't tell her anything and said that I had to call them. *shrug* At any rate, I have no idea how or why I got onto whatever list I'm apparently on, and I find it simultaneously annoying and humorous.

My family back in NC has certainly gotten a real kick out of the whole thing. >_>;

And it was rather amusing to scribble all over the survey that I got today, which I'm going to send back to them in their pre-paid envelope. If I had to waste a stamp on it I wouldn't bother, though, as it's not that important to me.

[kane-magus.livejournal.com]

AHA! I knew I wasn't going crazy. Well, not totally crazy anyway.

I wrote about it in a comment to one of tokoz's posts (http://tokoz.livejournal.com/59723.html), rather than making an entry in my own LJ. Not sure why I never posted about it in my own journal though.