Stanley Bing: Downsize My Inbox

Editor's note: Stanley Bing is bringing his famous brand of wit and irreverent humor to TheStreet.com. In addition to twice-weekly columns, you can catch Bing in occasional videos on TheStreet.com.

Macbeth said it. Act 5, Scene 5, I think. "It is a tale told by an idiot; full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Most people think he was talking about life. We know better. He was obviously talking about email.

Take today, for instance. It's only 8 a.m. and here's what I have:

Some vendor I don't know is asking me to upgrade a program I don't own. An industry trade is sending me its daily morning newsletter. A magazine I don't read is featuring its monthly lineup.

The New York Times is sending me Today's Headlines. Allposters.com tells me that for 48 hours only I can get up to 30% off on some posters I don't want. Who gets posters? I don't. Maybe one day a while ago I bought a poster for my kid. Now every day I get an offer about posters.

I thought I spammed that. I guess I'll do it again. Friggin' Reunion.com won't get off my back! There's some guy in the Yukon Territory, I'm not making this up, who keeps searching my name. I don't know anybody there, but he keeps searching me. And they keep telling me about it. When I try to exit their site, I get an error message! What a pain! I'll send them to junk mail, too, except haven't I already done that? Why do they keep coming back?

Telecharge is offering me low-priced tickets to a show I don't want to see. Two newsletters I signed up for that have interesting stuff I'm not interested in. Another newsletter! And another! News stories from all over. Gossip sites with their daily blab. Sales numbers! Hmm. God. It's rough out there and I don't need a spreadsheet to tell me. More sales numbers. More news stories. Sales numbers. Request for approval on something I've already approved.

A chain about nothingness on which I'm cc'd. Another of those. A self-congratulatory note masquerading as an attaboy. A blog. Another blog. And another. An ad pimping for an upcoming conference. And another. Who can afford to go to all these conferences in this economic environment? Oh look. Here's a conference on the technology of conference calls. It's in Park City, Utah! Gotta go to that, right? An ad from JetBlue(JBLU). An ad from Restoration Hardware(RSTO).