They Deliver

The clerks, N and S, at my post office are the best. They never get upset when I have them hunt through the stamp drawer for pretty or unusual stamps. They understand sometimes a flag or a fish hook just won't do.

N was at the counter Thursday afternoon when I mailed my Graceful Envelope entry. He was on duty earlier in the day when I stopped in to have the envelope weighed so I would be sure to put the correct amount of postage on.

One of the contest suggestions was to print the "to" address on the back of the envelope if the address on the front was not obvious or too decorative for it to be easily read. Since the back of the envelope is not judged, I had decided to hedge my bet and printed the "to" address on the back along with a return address label. N carefully examined my envelope. My design involved layered cutouts. I had glued everything down with "Yes" paste and ran a brayer over the edges to make sure there were no little edges sticking up. N assured me the thickness of the layers would be able to zip through the postal machines. The key contest rule, besides the address being artistically rendered, is the envelope has to go through the U. S. Postal system. The envelope can't be placed inside another envelope or covered in plastic. N flipped the envelope over to make sure I had a return address.

"You probably should put an extra stamp on the back. Someone down the line might mistake the back for the front." (That happened to me with my 2001 entry and it was returned to the post office. The clerk at that time, put the envelope through the system again as she recognized my entry. It was delivered thanks to her extra vigilance)

As I was grabbing my wallet, N told me not to bother. He'd spring for the extra stamp. He even chose the Danny Thomas stamp to fit the letter "D" theme. Thanks, N. I hope your extra attention brings me luck. Coffee's on me.