Sep 17, 2006

Our postman needs wringing... twice*

We have a postman on our route who believes that by bringing everyone's mail together, peace and harmony will prevail in our suburbial mail district. His idea of getting to know your neighbour means dropping the mail off at random houses every week. Most of the houses on our street are single-family homes, which means that everyone has their own mailbox near the sidewalk, the main gate or the front door. OUR mailman wouldn't ever DREAM of stopping at every. single. mailbox. to distribute the mail. Nope. One-stop bundle per street. Our postman punches in for work at 7am and by 8am he's done for the day. Off for his frappe and a nap after a hard day's work.

This summer was the worst yet. Neighbours gone on vacations at varying times our bills and letters were held hostage in assorted mailboxes with no way out. Our telephone line was cut off as a result of our phone bill's confinement, having arrived at a house 3 blocks down while its dwellers were away. By the time the family returned and put on their mailman cap, our bill had expired and phone company went 'snip-snip' without us knowing we owed them.

Complain? Yes, we have. Results? No, we haven't any. Some neighbours say that it isn't worth the fight. Some are worried that if we persist and take things a step further we may NEVER see our mail EVER again. Snail mail extortion by a lazy mailman.

Where's a killer dog when you need one?
Beware! Fluffy is on mailman patrol.


*For those too young to remember, this title is a wordplay of the classic crime novel "The Postman Always Rings Twice".
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