I’m finding out this is a far more common story than one would suspect. It wasn’t too long ago that I came home from work on a Friday and began my routine. I put the briefcase down, checked some things, and eventually made my way down to the street to look in the mailbox. I knew that my Electric bill was supposed to be in there because I get those “informed delivery” emails from the post office. My mailbox is a rural type, streetside, on a decorative iron post similar to the rest of the ones in my neighborhood.
I get to the mailbox, and open the door expecting to see a stack of coupons, catalogs, and fluff burying somewhere the electric bill. I look and there’s nothing but a green slip of card stock. I’m confused… Then I notice what the card says, “VACANT”… WHAT?!
I held the card in my hand trying to figure out what this meant. “My house is not vacant, I’ve lived here 17 years!” I slowly walked back to the house trying to figure out where my power bill is now and what deals I’m missing out on because all that stack of catalog paper isn’t there… What’d they do with it? It’s was already only ten minutes before the local post office station closed. What is this and how to get it fixed?
That was back in August.
It Happened to the Forum also!
Well, Cindy made her way to our post office station to pick up the Forum’s mail from P.O. Box 542 in Hudson, WI to find out that nearly a similar thing happened… UGGH!
Turns out that from a glitch, our PO Box of nearly three decades was emptied and vacant on November 1. They say all mail was returned to sender. Cindy got the glitch fixed with the Post Office. They tell us regular mail will be delivered again.
But what about that mail in the meantime? We don’t know! That’s the worst part of this! People that sent us mail likely had it returned to sender. That’s awful! No, we really are here! Our address is the same!
I’m going to drop a note in the mail to be sure, but they tell us it’s all fixed again. Somehow, it leaves the worst feeling in the back of your mind. What did I miss? What will the people that get mail returned to them think? I hope they call at least or drop us a note to tell us, but not everyone does. Some of it may have may have been lost if the sender decides not to follow up.
For my situation, I called the station and got lucky (thank God and my guardian angel who I’d asked to help) and the person answering the phone turns out to be a neighbor from down the street. He knows me and that I live here, especially as I’d be outside with Fyo in the mornings as he’d be going to work for the better part of the last ten years. He realized if it didn’t get fixed in the next ten minutes, I’d not get mail again until mid-week. He said, “hang on a second.” Moments later, he came back to the line, “it’s fixed.” “Thank you!,” I said and we hung up. I never did get that power bill delivered though, and who knows what else from that day.
Say a little prayer for God’s blessings on the Forum, and maybe drop us a line… let’s see if it works!
Bellarmine Forum
P.O. Box 542
Hudson, WI 54016-0542
Have your own post office story? Please share in the comments below!
On a Side Note…
Here’s a peek at some of the archives that we’ve unearthed, thank God, and will be sharing in the near future… It’s amazing how much of what was said back then we are living today. How’d they know exactly where we’d be?
This article, Oh, the Post Office… Seems Everyone has a Post Office Story these days, here’s ours is a post from The Bellarmine Forum.
https://bellarmineforum.org/oh-the-post-office-seems-everyone-has-a-post-office-story-these-days-heres-ours/
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