I changed my address on my bank account last week. Simple enough.
Email confirmation came first. Then a text message. WhatsApp pinged too. I logged in to check. Yes, the address was updated in my profile.
Today, the postman knocked on my door. A letter from the bank. Inside? A printed confirmation that my address has been changed.
I already knew this. The digital confirmations told me. My online profile showed it. Yet here’s this piece of paper, using ink, envelope, postal service, and someone’s time to tell me what I already know.
This happens everywhere. We get digital receipts, then printed ones. Online statements, then paper backups. Instant notifications, then follow-up letters.
Banks call it security. Compliance teams call it necessary. Audit departments love the paper trail.
But what are we really doing here?
We’re treating trust like it needs backup singers. One confirmation isn’t enough. We need the whole chorus.
Maybe there’s a reason. Maybe some people prefer letters. Maybe regulations demand it. Maybe lawyers sleep better knowing paper exists.
Or maybe we’re just doing things because we’ve always done them this way.
The postman delivered certainty I already had. The tree gave its life for information I already knew. The system worked exactly as designed.
Which makes me wonder: when did redundancy become reliability?
Not everything that can be automated should be.
Not everything that can be printed needs to be.
Sometimes the most efficient system is the one that knows when to stop.
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