Snail Mail

In this day and age, I feel like teenagers and kids in general get more excited by the concept of receiving mail just because it’s so much cooler than getting an email. And I was not an exception. When I realized that I could receive actual mail, it was like entering a new world. At the time it made me feel very adult; and I guess that is why I enjoyed the mail system so much when I was younger. But I can disappointedly say that that the world of mail wasn’t all that great.

First of all, I never really received a ton of mail to begin with. Any envelopes with my name on it were usually grades or school programs—which were lame and disinteresting at the time. Even now, I don’t really get many things mailed to me. The only things I can think of are out of school programs, letters from friends, and (annoying yet soul-lifting) college letters that I don’t know what to do with.

You see, in my sixteen years of existing on this beautiful blue (now browning) planet, I can’t say that I have ever received something from the mail that was exceptional. I have never had the sensational bliss of opening a package of clothes/shoes (which is mainly my fault, because I don’t shop online) nor opening a letter from a long forgotten friend who moved to Kenya in fifth grade. While we are on the topic of opening, let me tell you; I almost never open my own mail. Yup, there, I said it. My mom prefers to do it because she’s a bit paranoid and formulates that “there could be a bomb or poisonous gas in it”. She also states there’s a proper way to open mail, which she has not yet demonstrated. Every time she tears through mail, it’s like me tearing through a burrito, so I think that whole “proper opening method” is a bit of a fib.

Anyways, let me back on track. I haven’t received much of mailing for me to consider something memorable. I mean, I could always treasure my 6^th grade report card till the day I die; but that seems rather lame. Now that I think about it, there was this one postcard I received that made it onto the bulletin board above my bed. But it wasn’t technically mailed. It was addressed to me and everything but never sent because my friend just handed it to me when she saw me the next day. The postcard was from the Cuba trip I went on this past summer. It was really fun, and I got to meet a ton of lovely people as well as explore the city (and beaches!) which is a memory I’ll definitely treasure for a long time. So it was nice to have that little memento of our beach frolicking and salsa dancing good times. Like I said before, it wasn’t mailed so technically not mail, but we’ll pretend it was. Except for this one relic, I’d say the mailing system is a pretty lame thing for now ( because I’m not cool enough yet to get cool mail, maybe in 10 years it’ll be baller) and that all the hype is in tearing the envelope. Although I do look forwards to receiving, and properly opening on my own, more (or any) memorable mail from the people in my life.