Return to sender...: courteous fun with other people's mail
For the past couple years I have had a PO Box at the Iowa City Post Office. I mainly use it for work so the journals have a physical address. Every once in a while I receive mail for those who have previously used the same box, and I always return those letters to the sender with a note that the addressee has relocated (somewhere, unbeknownst to me). It is a courtesy I hope others would extend to me. Usually I don’t give it much thought, but on Monday I received something rare enough to give me playful pause: a membership renewal notice from Mensa.
Mensa, according to Wikipedia, “is the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organization open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardized, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test.” (Obviously, I did not open the letter, but I assumed it was a renewal notice because I could see “RENEWAL” through the envelope paper.) Needless to say, the letter was addressed to someone who previously used my PO Box — someone apparently not smart enough to inform “the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world” that he has changed addresses.
Oh, the irony.
Normally, I refrain from personally ridiculing others. I do not like being made fun so I do not make fun of others. I jokingly tease friends, but do not bash and bully complete strangers for entertainment and pride. However, I could not pass up the opportunity to poke fun at the situation and a self-important society for those among us who have scored in the top two percent on a test. So I took the letter home and wrote on the envelope, “Return to sender. He must not be smart enough to change his address.”
Ha HA!
Though I had guilty second thoughts, and can empathize with forgetting to updated addresses, I dropped it in a mailbox the next day. What the hell, right? When else would I ever get the chance? Probably never, which is why I seized the day and took advantage of the opportunity.
Mensa, according to Wikipedia, “is the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organization open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardized, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test.” (Obviously, I did not open the letter, but I assumed it was a renewal notice because I could see “RENEWAL” through the envelope paper.) Needless to say, the letter was addressed to someone who previously used my PO Box — someone apparently not smart enough to inform “the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world” that he has changed addresses.
Oh, the irony.
Normally, I refrain from personally ridiculing others. I do not like being made fun so I do not make fun of others. I jokingly tease friends, but do not bash and bully complete strangers for entertainment and pride. However, I could not pass up the opportunity to poke fun at the situation and a self-important society for those among us who have scored in the top two percent on a test. So I took the letter home and wrote on the envelope, “Return to sender. He must not be smart enough to change his address.”
Ha HA!
Though I had guilty second thoughts, and can empathize with forgetting to updated addresses, I dropped it in a mailbox the next day. What the hell, right? When else would I ever get the chance? Probably never, which is why I seized the day and took advantage of the opportunity.
