When was the last time you sent a letter? No, not the electronic variety; the classic, old fashioned, pen-and-paper variety. No, I haven't sent one of those in a while either. But, yesterday, I did visit the post office to post a birthday card to my dad's brother. It was an experience...and a half.
Dad was at work, so he asked me to drop by the post office and post that card on my way home from college. My first reaction was, "Ugh, dad, really? Why don't you just call him, or send him an e-card instead?" And dad was like, "No, this is the proper way to do it." Umm. Okay.
"Just don't forget to take some glue along, unless you want to lick the stamps," said dad. Point noted.
So I made my way to the post office after college and proceeded to get that card posted. I last visited the post office in December last year, for, you guessed it, posting Christmas cards! The first step was to buy stamps. (Remember those? Yeah, they still exist!) I went up to the stamp sale counter and asked the woman sitting there, "Excuse me, how much worth of stamps do I need to put on this? It has to go to Australia."
She takes it from me, examines it like she's never seen a birthday card before and if I'm not mistaken, she actually smelled it. Once she was absolutely sure there was no gunpowder inside, she asked me, "Normal post?"
"Uhh...yes."
She then put it on the weighing scale on her desk. (Jeez, lady, its just a freakin' birthday card.) Once she was certain there wasn't an elephant hiding inside, she said, "Hearty Weight".
I don't think it's that heavy, really, I thought.
Again, I wasn't sure I heard correctly, I said, "Sorry?"
"Arty Freight!"
"What?"
"THIRTY EIGHT!!!"
Whoops. Blame the glass between us. I paid her the money, she gave me the most boring stamps she could find, looking at me as if I just wasted a precious minute of her life. (Come to think of it, I probably did.)
I found an empty chair and sat down and proceeded to stick the stamps on the envelope. Just then I realized, I forgot to bring glue! D'oh!
I sighed. Time to do some serious licking. Once I was happy with the stamp placement and had sufficiently grossed out everyone within a five-foot radius, I went outside and to the other office to have the card franked (that big blue or black ink stamp you see across the paper stamps).
Sadly, the woman who franks the letters wasn't there, and that was a shame, because I always love to see her acting like a mechanical robot, franking the letter and dropping them into separate little boxes which then are put into bags and loaded into a big red van and then are taken somewhere to be sent all over the world!
I just left the card there and went outside and watched some men loading a big red post van. How cool. I felt like jumping into the driver's seat and taking the van around for a spin. It's always been one of my childhood dreams to drive a post van!
Highly satisfied with the experience, and having completed my work, I went into "reflection mode". Why don't people send so many cards and letters anymore? Yeah, maybe it's a lot of work, plus, it's called "snail mail" for a reason, but it's really a lot of fun! The fact that a loved one far away receives something which was once touched, held, and written on by another loved one, is really romantic, isn't it? Taking the time to choose a perfect card, writing in it, carefully sealing and going to all the trouble of sending it, truly means that someone more than deserves your love. And every time you receive a letter or card, it means that someone cares for you enough to go to all that trouble!
I want to ask you now. When was the last time you sent a letter? Or a card? Did you do it out of formality or because you truly care? Here's your homework: send someone you love a letter or card and let me know how it goes!
Dad was at work, so he asked me to drop by the post office and post that card on my way home from college. My first reaction was, "Ugh, dad, really? Why don't you just call him, or send him an e-card instead?" And dad was like, "No, this is the proper way to do it." Umm. Okay.
"Just don't forget to take some glue along, unless you want to lick the stamps," said dad. Point noted.
 |
| Our post office. There's actually an older and grander building opposite. |
So I made my way to the post office after college and proceeded to get that card posted. I last visited the post office in December last year, for, you guessed it, posting Christmas cards! The first step was to buy stamps. (Remember those? Yeah, they still exist!) I went up to the stamp sale counter and asked the woman sitting there, "Excuse me, how much worth of stamps do I need to put on this? It has to go to Australia."
She takes it from me, examines it like she's never seen a birthday card before and if I'm not mistaken, she actually smelled it. Once she was absolutely sure there was no gunpowder inside, she asked me, "Normal post?"
"Uhh...yes."
She then put it on the weighing scale on her desk. (Jeez, lady, its just a freakin' birthday card.) Once she was certain there wasn't an elephant hiding inside, she said, "Hearty Weight".
I don't think it's that heavy, really, I thought.
Again, I wasn't sure I heard correctly, I said, "Sorry?"
"Arty Freight!"
"What?"
"THIRTY EIGHT!!!"
Whoops. Blame the glass between us. I paid her the money, she gave me the most boring stamps she could find, looking at me as if I just wasted a precious minute of her life. (Come to think of it, I probably did.)
I found an empty chair and sat down and proceeded to stick the stamps on the envelope. Just then I realized, I forgot to bring glue! D'oh!
I sighed. Time to do some serious licking. Once I was happy with the stamp placement and had sufficiently grossed out everyone within a five-foot radius, I went outside and to the other office to have the card franked (that big blue or black ink stamp you see across the paper stamps).
 |
| CAUTION: SPIT! |
Sadly, the woman who franks the letters wasn't there, and that was a shame, because I always love to see her acting like a mechanical robot, franking the letter and dropping them into separate little boxes which then are put into bags and loaded into a big red van and then are taken somewhere to be sent all over the world!
I just left the card there and went outside and watched some men loading a big red post van. How cool. I felt like jumping into the driver's seat and taking the van around for a spin. It's always been one of my childhood dreams to drive a post van!
 |
| The big red post van! With no driver... |
Highly satisfied with the experience, and having completed my work, I went into "reflection mode". Why don't people send so many cards and letters anymore? Yeah, maybe it's a lot of work, plus, it's called "snail mail" for a reason, but it's really a lot of fun! The fact that a loved one far away receives something which was once touched, held, and written on by another loved one, is really romantic, isn't it? Taking the time to choose a perfect card, writing in it, carefully sealing and going to all the trouble of sending it, truly means that someone more than deserves your love. And every time you receive a letter or card, it means that someone cares for you enough to go to all that trouble!
I want to ask you now. When was the last time you sent a letter? Or a card? Did you do it out of formality or because you truly care? Here's your homework: send someone you love a letter or card and let me know how it goes!