True Story Tuesday

In July 2007 I purchased a pink Chocolate at Verizon Wireless, which came with a $70 mail-in rebate. The following Sunday night, I dutifully read the rebate directions, snipped (man-handled) the box, sealed it all in an envelope and dropped it into the mailbox slot of the Raleigh apartment I shared with Miss Lobster.

About an hour later as I was cleaning my cardboard mess I realized in a panic that I had left out a key item needed for the rebate. Our mailbox wasn't very large, so I assumed it would be no problem to reach through the slot, grab my envelope and make the desired corrections. Oooops. Upon arrival at the mailbox I peered inside and didn't see my mail. I reached my hand inside as far as I could manage, but no letter.

I returned to the apartment and summoned Lobster (who else would I call in an emergency? She was also top on my list when I thought I threw a brand new pair of shoes into the large, apartment-wide trashcan - luckily, the shoes were under my bed). Now armed with spatulas, paper clips, wooden spoons and tongs, we prepared for a mail slot battle of the century to retrieve my mail.

We fished out several other residents' mail pieces, but mine was not to be found. After about 10 minutes of grabbing and returning, Lobster and I looked up and spotted a security camera aimed directly at the mailbox. We realized that our harmless activity might actually be interpreted by some to be a felony. We ran away (very inconspicuous) as quickly as we could, and I figured that my rebate was lost forever.

I called the apartment office in the morning to make a final plea that they remove my mail from the outbox and simply place it back in our apartment's inbox instead of sending it. "Absolutely not a problem," was the pleasant reply. Once again, I tried to make something simple into something full of espionage and intrigue. Either way, it was fabulous way for the conception of Maroline's Mail Retrieval Service.