A Personal Message from Me to…
April 30, 2008 by Amy
…the USPS employee or contracted worker located somewhere between northern Indiana and Nashville, TN.
Ahem.
I think I’ve figured it out. I think I see where you were coming from.
There you were, unloading or loading a truck, or maybe guiding packages down a belt or something and you see this fairly good-sized box. It’s marked “media mail” so maybe you thought, “Ah-ha! DVD’s! Video games! A box full of ‘em!”
So then you took out the box-cutter you’ve got on hand for just these occasions, slit the bottom of the box, let the contents fall into whatever bag you’ve also got on hand for just these occasions, whistled and waited for the next box.
I suppose you really didn’t actually have a chance to handle the box and see that it weighed a lot more than it would if it were, indeed, filled with DVD’s or games.
Because, in fact, it was filled with,you know, books.
And speaking of books, I HOPE YOU ENJOY THOSE 40 COPIES OF PROVE IT CHURCH MEANT FOR KIDS BEING CONFIRMED ON FRIDAY IN NASHVILLE. I PARTICULARLY HOPE YOU ENJOY READING THEIR LITTLE NAMES INSCRIBED IN EACH BOOK.
Yeah. Enjoy. And while you’re at it, prove this.
(Okay, okay. Here’s hoping the criminal, upon opening the stash of 40 stolen books about God takes it as a message and changes his or her ways. There’s a purpose for everything. Got it.)
(And yes, it was insured. And yes, the box was indeed delivered empty, with the bottom neatly slit open.)
It’s useless, but sympathy nonetheless.
Just like the postal worker in Charlottesville who pilfered the gift cards my mother-in-law sent to the kids on a couple of occasions. The culprit also pilfered other people’s gift cards to the tune of over $25,000 before getting caught.
Someone broke into my car in my driveway and stole, I kid you not, my Bible. And somehow missed the $20 bill I had in the little dashboard drawer.
To be fair (?) to the thief, my Bible was in a zipped tote bag with the rest of my Bible study materials…
And just like the postal worker in Slovenia that almost never delivers my Mom’s mail with much needed cash to her poverty stricken sister. A real shame, but yes, as difficult it is to believe, a likely purpose for everything.
Just sharing your pain from Canada.
Tony
Wow! I’ve never heard of stuff like this with USPS! It kinda smacks of the Indian Postal Service. We never sent anything of any value at all via IPS, always used a private courier service!
Sympathies!
That’s why I do business with FedEx
Maybe you should have them write BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS on the packages also.
Of course, this is assuming the books aren’t being resold on EBay or Amazon….
And hey, you never know. Maybe God will use this to call the thief back onto the right path.
Btw, we apparently had a purse theft at my parish during Communion on Sunday. Some woman came into church (as if she’d been standing in the “gathering space” to attend Mass by watching on the TVs there), genuflected, got into a pew, knelt and prayed, and then after the ushers had stopped paying attention, she coolly picked up somebody else’s purse and walked out. Nobody noticed, because she fit in. When the purse’s owner noticed after Mass that her purse was gone and called her credit card company, it had already been used three times at nearby stores.
So… wheat and tares, folks. Be careful.
Why assume that some person attempted theft?
More likely an accident happen on an automated line along the way.
Because the box was neatly slit along the point where the bottom two flaps meet. The box was uninjured otherwise.
I’d be curious to see if these books might appear on Ebay or Craig’s List. Just a thought. You probably couldn’t do much about it, except perhaps send a very scolding email. Just a thought.
Yes, I’m going to be checking - on Amazon, too. The thing is, they’re signed - not just my name, but to individuals. Each one. So their value is lessened. Not that they have much value anyway…
I’m very sorry to hear that this happened to you and the kids the books were intended for. Since theft of mail is a federal crime, you (and the recipient) should file a report with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
I am so sorry you had to deal with that!
…But I have to say, that idea of someone having their thievery met with 40 copies of a book about Church makes me smile. You know that had to feel like maybe God was trying to tell them something.
I second Billy’s comment in #12. File a report. Keep checking Amazon and the like - the books might show up.
Maureen - the same thing happened at the Basillica here in Milwaukee. Woman sitting across the aisle from me had her purse snatched.
How sad.