Where’s a Damn Mailbox
I admit to being a mail procrastinator. I procrastinate taking things to the post office. I even procrastinated putting things in the mailbox outside my house. When we first ordered Netflix, I worried that I would procrastinate putting my movies in the mail and would never have movies to watch. I didn’t though. I instead became methodical about Netflix. I opened the enveloped a certain way – I tore off everything that didn’t get mailed back. And as soon as I finished watching a movie, I put the movie back in the envelope and sealed it. Then before going to bed I put the red envelope by the front door. We grew to love Netflix because we almost always had new movies in the house.
But, of course, everything is different in NYC. In this case, there is no mailbox outside our front door. Sure we have a mailbox on the first floor, but that is only for incoming mail. To put letters, or in this case, movies, in the mail, we must take them to a blue mailbox. Well, just our luck there’s not one on our street. Luckily, there’s one on Girts’s route to the subway, so he usually takes the mail. Unfortunately, the last time Girts attempted to mail the movies, the mailbox was full. The mailbox was full. Have you ever heard of one of those blue mailboxes being full? I think that warrants an, “only in New York,” statement.
Girts came down with a cold this week and actually stayed home from work today, so that left me the chore of mailing the movies. So I grabbed the moves on my way out the door and actually looked for a mailbox the whole way to the subway. This took a lot of concentration on my part because it tore me away from my usual people-watching. No mailbox. I got off the subway and walked my usual route to NYU and kept asking myself, “where’s a damn mailbox?” Repeating this phrase helped me maintain focus. Also, I was really irritated because I didn’t want to travel with the movies all day, especially considering the density of my backpack. Then, right as I was about to enter Bobst Library, voila, the glorious blue box appeared. At least I now know that there is one on my route, too! Not that I will voluntarily take the mail, but just in case.
Regine said,
October 1, 2006 @ 9:17 pm
HA! I wonder if repeating “Where’s a damn mailbox?” will help ME stay focused, too. Only, I’ll have to wait until I’m actually looking for one to use it, or else I’ll end up thinking I’ve accomplished something great by locating a large blue box when in fact I was searching for, say, a bus stop. Heh.
Michele said,
October 24, 2006 @ 12:11 pm
Hilarious. We too are Netflix junkies, although our house is so old school that the mail gets delivered straight through a slot in the wall. But no pick up service either. I leave that duty to Dave.
p.s. We got our tickets to come see you in November. Hope you are still expecting us!
Michele (and Dave and Elliott)