mail

I think we got a new mailman. For the past few weeks, I have found letters only halfway put through the mail slot, which I find upsetting for two main reasons. First, they get rained on, and I get a wet rag instead of a letter. And second, they are vulnerable to anyone coming by and pulling them out, and getting access to my private information in that way.

I always thought that mail was a minor miracle – how you write an address on an envelope, add a few cents postage, and it gets delivered with surprising accuracy and speed to places near and far. But I am doing what I can to reduce my mail deliveries because I can see so many vulnerabilities in the system – one of which is mail left sticking out of mailboxes. It is a surprisingly difficult task to accomplish because certain important places, like government, ignore your preferences and send sensitive mail regardless.

Being peeved at my mailman meant I was always on the lookout for the guy, so I could grab him and shake him and ask him what was the matter with him that he couldn’t put the mail INSIDE the mailbox. And my chance came last week, just at the end of a pretty tough outdoor workout.