I’ve got a bone to pick with the global postal system. In the past two months, EVERY aerogramme I have received from my friends in India has been mutilated in one way or another. Some have been torn nearly to shreds, some have been cut open with razors, and one aerogramme had the lower flap cut off and taped back on, but taped on backwards and upside down! The latest aerogramme came in a plastic bag saying how sorry the U.S. postal system was for damaging that piece of mail. Like that’s supposed to make me feel any better! I understand that every once in a while this will happen, but 100 percent of the time is a little ridiculous.

I know that it’s not just the U.S. Postal Service or just the Indian Post damaging my mail; it’s both of them. When the damaged mail doesn’t come in a plastic bag, then it was damaged in India. When it does come in a plastic bag, than the damage happened in the United States. Both postal systems are equally destructive.

And the razor cuts? Those are from customs, more likely from the U.S. customs agents. But why are they cutting open my aerogrammes, when an aerogramme is nothing but a single, folded up piece of paper? If anything was hidden in one, they’d easily be able to feel it through the paper. But for some reason, they have to slice it open when they know there’s nothing in the letter. This is just stupid. It’s a waste of time for the customs people and a pain in the ass for me.

All I ask is that the Indian and U.S. postal systems, along with the customs people of both countries, have a little respect for other people’s things. These are letters from friends (who are basically like family) who I knew when I lived in India, and I want to hear from them and hear about what’s going on around them. Unfortunately, that’s hard to do when a razor cut runs through the middle of one of my letters.

Would the people who handle the mail want me to cut up their letters and handle their letters with the same disrespect?

Peter Theis

Junior

Biology