During our regular 6:00 a.m. phone call on Tuesday, I explained to The Pony about my odd mailbox encounter on Monday. His insider information did nothing to calm my nerves about a gal wearing brown clothes lurking behind the mailbox.
"Um. All of our uniforms are blue. No brown."
"Oh. Uh. Not even Postal Inspectors? Maybe they have a different kind of uniform?"
"Not that I know of. Why would they? They are still postal employees. They may have their own style of uniform, maybe, like security, but I doubt they'd be brown."
"Huh. I was hoping maybe it was just the worker from the Backroads post office (the dead-mouse-smelling post office!) being late to pick up the mail from that box."
"I saw both of the workers from that post office around 11:00, and neither of them were wearing brown."
"What if it was somebody trying to break in, who didn't know the color of the uniform? You know they're having a lot of problems in the city. So much mail being stolen out of the boxes, and checks being altered to steal money."
"Well, she would need an arrow key to get the mailbox open."
"Is it the same all over the country? Because I was reading that the crooks have the arrow key and that's how they break into the mailboxes."
"There are seven different arrow keys. Around here, out of our office, we use three different ones, for the different cities."
"So maybe she had an arrow key, and was trying it to see if it worked, and then she or some other crook could come back after dark and steal the mail. Because I can't imagine being so brave as to do that in broad daylight, in front of the post office, about 100 feet away."
"Maybe. But she would have to be kneeling. The locks are way down low."
"Maybe her fiddling with that piece of paper was just a decoy to excuse why she was there, hanging around the mailbox."
"I don't know. It seems kind of odd to me."
"You are NOT making me feel any better! I wish I had kept my Menards bill and took it to the main post office!"
I just don't trust anybody these days.
I hate to say it, but I think you are right. Maybe the person thought any uniform would look plausible. I would check with Menard's every day to see if they received it.
ReplyDeleteHeh, heh! I'm sure you didn't mean it this way, but Hick also hates to say when I'm right! I'm checking for the check to process. It's easier than trying to reach an actual person at Menards who can give me that info.
DeleteOff topic, I wonder why Lowe's uses and apostrophe in their name, but Menards does not.
No, I just meant I did not want to further distress you. I would call the bank and have them watch for it to come in at the same amount for which you wrote it. The bank can stop payment on it if it is to wrong person or wrong amount. I wish you luck in this. If Tommy got mad every time I am right, he would stay mad a lot.
DeleteThe problem with my bank is that you can't get a local person on the phone. I'd have to go in and talk to an entry level teller, or speak to them at the drive-thru. Both scenarios would result in other people waiting hearing my account info. Things were simpler in the olden days!
DeleteI'm with you Val. I have a PO box located inside the lobby of a nearby post office in addition to my own mail box located down by the street in front of my house. Most of my mail is delivered to the PO box inside the post office. My home mail box has been run over by cars 3 times during the winter months and had to be replaced all 3 times. Ever since the 2nd time my mailbox was run over, I've had the PO Box and will keep it until I move. Because of this, I make a weekly trip to my PO Box and drop all my outgoing mail from inside the lobby.
ReplyDeleteYour departed mailboxes have my sympathy. At least it seems to be three cases of unpremeditated mailslaughter, rather than being beaten!
DeleteTrust your gut and take your bills to a post office from now on, just in case. And maybe surreptitiously snap a photo of anyone lurking anytime.
ReplyDeleteI would have been much more suspicious if it hadn't been in broad daylight, business hours, right in front of the post office!
DeleteSince that parking-spot-blocking lady flipped out over me taking a picture of her vehicle, I did not want to trigger this mailbox person. She was close enough to reach into T-Hoe's window and wreak havoc with my phone or flesh.
Years ago when my ex-daughter-in-law was not an ex, her identity was stolen via their mailbox. (Minnesota). They actually caught the perp and it went to trial! The woman went to prison. But since then, she uses a PO box. I don't worry much, since HeWho stalks our mailbox daily. Seems so many people are willing to work hard at stealing nowadays. If they put the same effort inti a job .....
ReplyDeleteI guess stealing pays better: no taxes!
Delete