Dear Mr. USPS: Last Saturday, we come home at the same time as the mail woman, so we take our mail right away out of the box, and there is a "sorry we missed you" notice that they were unable to deliver a packet. How in the universe did you miss us, both of us are right now in the 10 sq feet lobby of our appartment building, it's a clear and sunny afternoon, visibility is perfect: it's hard not to notice each other? Just give us the packet, thanks.

But the mail person did not carry the packets around, just the notices. And it is a common complaint, we hear. They don't carry the junk mail (which our parcel was not), they don't carry them when it rains (it was THE sunny day of the month). So the mailpeople just miss you unless you catch them red handed. See: it's not their job to actually deliver stuff, you are supposed to go pick it up at the post office. You get to exercise, it's good for the skin to walk in the rain, and it's easier on their back. Anyhow, she promised to deliver the packet later and leave it inside the building, which she ended up doing today.

Oh, and before people start calling about turning the USPS into more efficient private hands, we should add that FedEx keeps leaving delivery notices on our building gate with no indication of whom it is intended for. No name, no appartment number. Should all of us tenants inquire on this notice and call FedEx? What if no one does, thinking it's not for them? Should we convene a building meeting in the laundry room to make the call all together? But, dear Mr. USPS, we digress, and it looks like we are making excuses for you not being the only one playing fast and loose with our packages. Just deliver the darn thing, ok?