Package

August 03, 2022

Zena has gotten good about coming back to my office and letting me know it is time for her to go outside, and even better about letting me know it is time to eat.  Somehow, I have become the designated outside person.  She will often get up from in front of Melissa to walk back to my office to let me know it is time to go out or to eat.  When I am in my office it means that I am writing, and Zena will invariably come get me while I am in the middle of a thought.  Since Zena is still learning that she needs to go out I believe it is my responsibility to take her whenever she comes to me.  Melissa is suspicious that what Zena really wants is the treat that comes with her obedience.  I had fed Zena lunch and now an hour later she came back to tell me it was time to go out.  I put her leash on and opened the door to find a very large package sitting on the front porch.  Zena is always curious, but something about this package really got her attention.

When I looked online, I found a USPS letter carrier’s response to why packages are left on the front porch.  “Quite simply, packages are left on the porch because employees do not have enough time to wait for someone to answer the door, or to leave a pick-up notice for each package.  During the Christmas season a postal service rout may get over 100 packages a day.  It would take over three hours just to deliver just those packages if we had to do this for each one.  If you don’t want your package left on the porch, you can leave a note on your door, and/or get a signature confirmation or insurance where the package must be signed for at the time of delivery.”  If the package comes with the mail the carrier will generally leave our mail along with the package on the table along with Melissa’s succulents.  This is convenient for us and hidden from the street.  If the package is not left and you get a notice, you will have to go to the post office during their working hours to retrieve your package. 

Zena was quick outside and rushed back to investigate the package on the porch.  When I tried to scoot it inside with my foot it would not move.  Then I knocked the package over and it made a sound like gravel sloshing.  I figured it was more of the rock Melissa buys to put around her succulent arrangements.  I drug it in the house and told Melissa her rock was here, but she had not ordered any.  Zena was still curious, and I had to push her back as I opened the package.  Then I understood why Zena was franticly sniffing the package.  Inside the box was the fifty pound bag of puppy chow Melissa had ordered last week.  As usual, the box was twice as large as it needed to be to contain the puppy food.  The rest of the package had been stuffed with filler.

𝗧HOUGHTS:  My recollection is that prior to the pandemic (in the good ol’ days) drivers would knock or ring your doorbell prior to leaving a package at your front door.  Now there is rarely any indication something has been delivered unless it needs to be signed for.  The USPS does provide a phone app that notifies when something is delivered and gives an indication of what it is.  Melissa is a techie and has this and will occasionally ask if we got a specific piece of mail, although I have never seen it.  Leaving the package on the porch has given rise to porch pirates who roam the neighborhood looking for a package to steal.  It seems some will turn any convenience into their own opportunity.  Act for all. Change is coming and it starts with you.