The Literary Quality Found in Electricity Bill Notifications

I don't call my mother "Kaachan" (Mommy).

I call her "Kaa-san" (Mom) or use her name with "-san." There's no particular meaning behind it. My parents call each other by their names with "-san" attached, so it just became a habit for me to do the same.

So, regarding how my parents call each other

Calling each other by their names with "-san"...
What a lovely couple they are~♪

That's not a story worth writing, nor do I want to write it. I'll let them do as they please...

Anyway, I received an email from "Kaachan".

I don't intend to write an awareness article about being careful of scams. It's just simple and interesting...

Calling her "Kaachan".

Calling it a "coupon ticket".

And the "yoon♪" (lol).

Times have changed... I wonder if there are actually cases where people send allowances via coupons. Even if it is that kind of society, there's no problem. It's just...

It's Mom-san
Here's a coupon-yoon♪
Don't you dare!

It rhymes exquisitely, and the reason it caught my attention might be due to the recently trending "literary quality." Or perhaps the trend of "creative writing" is definitely encroaching on even spam emails. The direct, straight-to-the-point body text in a single line is exactly what you'd expect from "Kaachan." It makes me want to call her "Ofukuro" (Mother) for some reason (lol).

The coupon link also faithfully reproduces something I've seen somewhere before. This is also a realistic representation drawn to look just like the real thing. I see, so even emails are now being expected to have literature, creativity, and artistic techniques.

The coupon data itself looked inorganic, but it was for a "discount" amount, as a coupon should be. It reproduces the realistic texture of being usable only for discounts. And the 5,000 yen amount hits a realistic, albeit subtle, mark.

The biggest surprise is the expiration date. It's April 29th, not April 30th. The fact that they included this one-day difference shows the author is quite skilled. They are tapping into human psychology, where things that are slightly off are easier to remember. It's reached a terrifying level.

...

That was a good read.

Wonderful literature that can be read in less than a minute. Before I knew it, my mailbox was lined with numerous works. It seems there are some from someone's mom as well. I don't know whose mom it is, but including the fact that it's from a stranger's mom, I was able to savor the profound charm of this 'wrong-number email' literature.

At this rate, my emails will surely end up in the spam folder for failing to meet expression standards. No wonder I haven't been getting any replies lately. The times are about seven steps ahead of me. I've been left behind in the Reiwa era. (Wait, what era is it now?)

...

I remembered SkyMail.

Those nostalgic days when I switched to J-PHONE just because I wanted to use SkyMail. Perhaps that paper airplane icon was pointing toward an indescribable future. Back then, the character count was limited, too... The world surrounding email has changed significantly.

While I was immersed in such memories,
I heard the sound of something being put into my mailbox.

This is likely a delivery of flyer art. I didn't particularly order anything, but a variety of highly artistic works arrive for free.

Among them, my favorite is the flyer art from a certain pizza chain. Colorful pizzas, piping hot and fresh out of the oven...

Mixed in with such art,
was an electricity bill notice.

Why is that?

I feel absolutely no art in this. On the contrary, I feel an intense pressure that threatens to crush my heart. This should be the very pinnacle of reality. Strangely, I even find it annoying.

The pinnacle of reality is annoying...

I don't really understand it, but
perhaps the papers that go into the mailbox
are the pinnacle of spam.

Maybe I should try sending an email to that mom.

'Give me a coupon, please!'

By the way, what is... 'literary quality'?

You idiot!