Maily Taley

When I was a kid, we had this board game called Feeley Meeley. Not so much a board game, as a cardboard box with holes in each side. The object was to reach into one of those orifices (which were lined with flaps of felt so you couldn't peek inside) and pull out the most correct items, which were pictured on cards.

I don't remember how successful I was, but I'm going to say I won a lot, considering my opponents would be my mom and my sister the little future ex-mayor's wife, who was younger than me. Also, I might have sometimes tossed in extra objects while they weren't looking, which were not part of the game...

Anyhoo...the point here is that you might have known what you were expecting to be in that box, but occasionally you'd be surprised.

Kind of like my trip to the main post office every Friday. I expect to park, go inside to mail the boys' letters, and return without incident. However...

Last Friday, I put those letters through a slot in the wall. I didn't feel a need to go to the counter, because I had not included anything extra in either envelope. I know that I can get two scratchers and two pieces of paper in Genius's letter without it requiring extra postage.

I started my walk back to T-Hoe. I park up at the far end, because it's less likely that somebody will park too close to me there, and prevent T-Hoe's door from opening fully. Also, it's easier to back out, without a stream of cars driving past me looking for parking.

As I got closer to T-Hoe, I decided to share with you an object that I don't routinely see at the main post office. Why should I be the only one to appreciate it on the way in, when I could share my good fortune with a handful of readers as I returned?

I guarantee you that if I'd drawn such an object in a game of Feeley Meeley, I most certainly would have grasped this one in no time. Hopefully not cutting my fingers off in the process.

It was an empty sardine can, by cracky! Sardines in tomato sauce, from the looks of it. Which is SO VERY WRONG, because everyone knows that sardines should be in mustard sauce!

I have no idea why this tin was here. Surely nobody opened up a care package for a family member before mailing it, and snacked all willy-nilly on ill-gotten canned fish! I would hope that if they'd given such a treat to a begging bum that he at least was provided with a set of plasticware, lest he use his hands (possibly not all that clean) for utensils. AND if a good samaritan had offered that meal to a stray cat, couldn't he at least have dumped them out, so Kitty didn't have to lick the sharp edges?

Sorry for oversharing. I wasn't trying to lure you into a game of "post office." Really.