The post office in Cortland, I found out, closes for an hour during the day. It was 12:25pm when I arrived and they were due to open at 12:30. So I stayed. I wanted my package. I'd won it on eBay. It had arrived on Monday, but this was the first day I could get there.
So at 12:30 I went into the lobby. The door to the window area was still locked. I could hear music and movement in the back. About five minutes later a lady came out and unlocked the door. She didn't acknowledge me at all, which struck me odd since it was now 12:36 and I had been waiting six minutes for her to open the door. I waited for her to disappear behind the door she'd come from before entering the now unlocked door, as it was obvious she'd be the one to assist me one I got inside.
Approaching the counter, I smiled and explained the situation. "I had a package shipped here because I am staying with friends for the moment. This card was in their box the other day." I said as I presented her with the card indicating I had mail but that the postal workers didn't know if I was supposed to receive mail at this address. She glanced at the card and grunted a little then said "What's the address?" I quickly gave her to PO Box number and added "I assume you'll need my ID?" Extracting it from my purse I showed it to her. She studied my ID and asked, "Who are you staying with?" Her question barely audible. I told her. She handed me the package. I thanked her and with another smile and bid her a good day.
She never once made eye contact with me. Not that postal service workers need to be gleefully pleasant, but she actually made me feel like my being there was an inconvenience to her. I'm not sure why she was grouchy but I felt bad being so cheerful in her presence. I almost wanted to ask her what was wrong. But then, what if that was just how she is? What if she hates mail and hates people? Maybe that's why she was grouchy. Or maybe it was just a bad day. Either way, by the time our brief exchange was over, I was glad to be out of her way, package in hand. For a moment I thought she might keep it, just because she didn't want me there.
Back in college, in 2004 when blogging was hardly even a thing yet, I was here. Blogging before blogging meant anything to anyone. You can look in the archives for my past writings, but it was much more like a journal in the past. When we started fundraising, I messed around with the idea of launching something new for this new phase of our journey but actually hated that idea. I am a sum of all of my life and so much of it is here already. So I'm keeping it here. At least for now.
My main focus these days is blogging about our newest journey into the bizarre and wonderful world of gestational surrogacy. Posts dated 2013 and forward will trend heavily toward that journey. I don't promise everything I write will be about though. There might be other things that sneak in occasionally.
Please come along our journey with us. As the saying goes, "The more, the merrier!"
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