Raged and Confused

By Cyndi Seidler
07/11/06

Having to make changes in life and adjusting to those new changes isn't such a bad thing, providing the changes won't affect your life adversely, of course.

Well, I had to change my business mailing address. I really didn't think something like this would be such a headache, but I was wrong.

I had to make this change because the postal box facility I had closed down, forcing me to find another post box facility (with only a few days notice!).

I was lucky to find one just a block away down the same street. I quickly put in a change of address form at the post office, knowing that it takes 7-10 days to go into affect. I only hoped my mail would end up coming to me, somehow.

But then, I experienced first hand the postal "black hole." Mail goes nowhere, or somewhere, but not where you'll ever get it. I know this because I never got some correspondence and payments, and they were never returned to the sender. Where did it go then?

I pictured my mail sitting within someone's pile of unopened mail. I pictured it on the floor underneath a sorting area of the post office. I imagined it had fallen between the seats of the mail delivery truck. I even wondered if it were in some dark place swallowed by something too horrifying to look into further.

Taking stock of all my various vendors and business relationships, I knew I had to contact each individually if I were to ever carry on business as usual while waiting for "mail forwarding" to kick in. I also had to change over a dozen web sites with the new address. And, the banks. And creditors. And all my subscriptions. And, and, and!

Oh, how such a simple thing can turn into such a huge task. So, who could blame me for being upset. I deserved this.

Mail seems like such a valuable element of living. It's the one thing that we look forward to (in most cases) and depend on. The delivery "system" is then vital to our overall well-being and personal sanity; I've concluded.

When I finally stopped worrying about my mail, I realized there was still more to do: I had to change my brand new business cards and stationary. I figure the printer is going to know me real well by the time this is over.

People who move a lot, or even move infrequently, must relate to all the things a person has to do just to make sure they get their mail. It can be more involved than the move itself sometimes. Am I right?

Well, no matter. Just believing there are others out there who have suffered with postal service blues is enough to calm me down a little. Not that I'm happy it may have happened to you; it just gives me relief to know I'm not alone.

Copyright 2006 Cyndi Seidler. All Rights Reserved.