Mail Call
Zaben

I?m waiting for the mail to come.

Lots of people await the arrival of the mail each and everyday, but recently I?ve actually canceled plans with friends, slept longer, and generally built my day around the arrival of the mail. Why? Online shopping.

I can?t stop spending money online. I go to look up a movie poster to snag the image for my desktop and end up buying three posters from another movie. I begin checking the prices of artbooks for comparison only and end up buying a mouse pad. I even purchased a tuba I?ve never seen or played before. I?ve spent more money on shipping and handling this week than I have on food.

So I?m waiting for the mail to come.

I went to bed at 5:00am so that I would sleep longer, thereby waking up closer to the time the mail arrives. The rest of the day seems pointless, and I would doubtfully be able to deal with the extreme suspense of waiting for the mail for more than an hour. So I just make sure I?m unconscious until that time. For me the day starts when the flag goes down.

My e-mail box has 25 messages in it right now. None are from friends or family, nor are they even advertisements. They?re all shipping and billing confirmations, outbid/bid winner notices from ebay, password confirmations from all the new accounts I?ve had to start, and UPS tracking links. I wish my real mailbox was this full. With packages. I expect 6 packages in the next 4 days.

But I think the mail lady just drove up, so I?ve got to go.