Job Search Complaints

So what's up with people requiring you to mail in your job application? A lot of the jobs I'm applying for don't want just a resume and cover letter; they also often want a writing sample. A long writing sample. One that results in extra postage and the application package barely fitting in the envelope. I can understand wanting something sent by mail or fax if you want to make sure you're getting a copy of the original, like the front page of your DC bar application to show you're DC pending. But why can't I just email you the writing sample?

While I'm complaining, what's up with absurdly long unpaid positions? I can understand summer internships being unpaid. But I'm not in law school anymore, I don't have loans I can live on. So even if I'd like to work for, say, the Baltimore Attorney General's office in their associate program, I simply can't afford to work for 10 (10!) months without pay. Who do they actually get for this? Rich people who's parents can afford to subsidize them? Moochers who are happy to just let their big law wife/husband pay for them? It just doesn't seem realistic.