Through the Eyes of a Delivery Goddess |
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It takes awhile, but one does finally get used to the typical paper tube trespassers ... Spiders and spider webs, raccoons, even bird nests are things we find - webs are particularly icky at night in the dark. I've scared a raccoon that was on the mailbox post beside the paper tube a time or two, (or, actually I was probably more frightened by their movements at night), and even though I have not personally experienced it, I've heard stories of other paper carriers who have found bird nests in their tubes. My parents argued for awhile with a bird in their tube - my dad set up a video camera and watched the stubborn bird rebuild after my dad swept out the tube. If I remember right, my dad finally put a cover over the paper tube, and built a box on top of the tube for the birds to use - and they welcomed the gesture !! Bees nests and hornets nests are often a good time - generally at night, the bees are lethargic enough that they're not much trouble, but around the end of July and into August, it doesn't cool down that much at night, and it's not unusual to shove a paper into a tube and have a hornet pay you a visit before you can get pulled away from the mailbox. So far, I've only heard of one person being stung - I suppose we're all lucky. One carrier told me about a HUGE hornets nest ... you know, the ones that are big, grey and kind of egg shaped that usually hang from a tree? She said that it seemed to appear overnight; she hadn't noticed it the few nights before, but, once she spied their residence hanging from under the tube, she started to throw the paper in the driveway. It wasn't long before the customer complained about not having their paper in their tube. Now, one wonders how they could possibly get their mail out of their mailbox RIGHT NEXT to the paper tube and NOT see the hornets, but ... the carrier told me that she left a note for the customer that she was not sharing the tube with the hornets, so he needed to remove them, if he wanted is normal service resumed. We laughed when she told us that the customer called the paper for a new tube, and put one up on the other side of the driveway. I'd STILL like to know how this customer got their mail without being stung! There are also inconsiderate trespassers that should know better - paper tubes seem to be the perfect hiding place for empty pop cans, candy wrappers, apple cores, and even animal carcasses. I don't think there's a carrier out there who hasn't pulled an envelope out of the tube at Christmas time, figuring it's a card for them, and when they open it, it says "to the Smith Family, from Henry, Janet and Keith". Obviously NOT for the carrier. THEN, the trick is, figuring out which tube you pulled it out of through the night - you only use about two hundred of them! Personally, I usually try to open the envelope right in front of the mailbox JUST to make sure it's really for me, that way I can put it back in, if it appears it's for the family living there, not for me. Sometimes, though - when I'm in a hurry - I've brought home envelopes that do NOT have my name on them. Another trespasser we've all encountered is the occasional thief. Believe it or not, we have to believe that people walking by, either on the way to the bus, or walking the dog, or just out strolling in the mornings, (especially on Sundays), have stopped and picked up a paper from someone else's driveway or tube. I have had a half dozen different customers over the years call and say that they glanced at their paper before they left for Church, or the store, or something like that, so they KNOW the paper was there, but when they came home, it was gone. I had one fellow say that his wife saw the paper at the bottom of the driveway one morning, he got out of his chair, went to the bathroom, put on his shoes, and by the time he got to the bottom of the driveway, the paper was gone. He, of course, accused his wife of halucinating, but, they know the paper WAS there, and then disappeared. More on that in tomorrow's installment. Over this past weekend, I noticed a NEW kind of trespasser. This is the first year I have seen so many squirrels. I'll bet I saw fifty squirrels on Sunday morning - now keep in mind, that I drive almost 160 miles on a Sunday - running up and down trees and through yards, and across the road. I approached one tube and my worst paper fear almost happened. As stupid as it sounds, I've always been concerned about a rabid raccoon jumping from a tube to my front seat in the middle of the night. Oh, Bob has a GREAT time teasing me about that one, but honestly - what would you do with a rabid raccoon in the car with you? I approached a tube Sunday morning and JUST before I got to the tube - maybe ten feet - a squirrel scurried out of the tube and pulled itself onto the top of the tube, ran longways across the back and jumped onto the tree behind the mailbox. By the time he hit the tree, I was putting the paper in the tube, but ... what if??? What if he'd have jumped into my car instead? Nearly, my worst paper fear realized! |