Liz's brown envelope

 Yesterday, at 5 pm, I heard the mail carrier delivering the mail and gathering some that I had put out for him to pick up. I was surprised to see that envelope to Liz in my mailbox. I had mailed in on Saturday. I could see a faint bar code in red ink on the envelope and figured that the scanner had read my return address label on the back instead of the address on the front.

I waited outside for the mail carrier to come back on the other side of our street to ask for the 4 brown envelopes that he had just picked up. I didn't want them to make the same trip that Liz's envelope just made. I showed him how the one he had just delivered was not addressed to me and he couldn't figure out what had happened - until I suggested that the scanner had read the return address label. He thought my theory was correct.

He gave me back the other 4 and I said I was not going to use brown envelopes any more......and just then a medium sized dog came racing down the street, directly toward us, barking and scaring the living daylights out of me. I know dogs don't like mail carriers. The dog started jumping all over me - and the owner came running - and yelling - and maybe the dog was trying to be playful but it was too wild for me. The mail carrier was actually doing a good job of pulling the dog off me by the time the owner reached us.

The owner got his dog back on a leash and muttered, "Sorry."

That was it. One word. 

Grrrrrr

As the owner walked away with his dog I asked the mail carrier if he'd ever been bitten by a dog. Once, on his wrist. I asked if he reported it. He said yes. I didn't ask him to report the incident but my son is getting a full report.

Then I remembered how to handle the brown envelopes. I will cover up the return label and put the recipient's address on the back - so that the scanner only has one choice. The mail carrier thought that was a good idea.

So, Liz, I have to decide what to do about that very faint barcode on the envelope. I think I should just add an outer envelope and start over. Maybe I'll make a trip to the post office. Maybe they would put it in one of the "We're sorry" envelopes they use when a piece of mail gets chewed up.