Last week I received a strange notice from my US mail carrier. It seems that the location of my mailbox is unacceptable.
What’s perplexing is it’s been like that for twenty years, so I’m not sure why it’s suddenly now out of specification.
There are two complaints with my once acceptable mailbox: it needs to be raised about 8 inches higher and moved closer to the road by about the same amount.
What’s interesting is that the printed instructions indicate that “Whenever possible, boxes must be located so that carrier’s vehicle is off pavement when serving them [sic].”
But my carrier’s hand-written note says, “Move your box closer to the road so I don’t have to leave payment.”
This is quite a dilemma, do I move it closer as my carrier requested or move if further away as the formal instructions dictate?
She further implied that if I don’t move it, I might not receive my mail every day this winter. Of course, if the snowplow takes out my mailbox because it’s too close to the road, then I won’t get my mail on any day.
Isn’t that just like the government, providing conflicting constructions—and demanding compliance.
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Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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