Anyone who knows me knows I like to get an excess of snail mail and parcels. As a result, I had decided long ago to get a PO box the minute I moved here.
There is a little place right near the subway stop where I rent a mailbox and they also sign for all my parcels and keep them until I pick them up. This is a lot better than the Post Office as the Sunnyside Post Office is notoriously dodgy, a further walk away and they can’t sign for UPS/Fed-Ex etc. With this mailbox I actually have a street mailing address rather than a PO Box so everything can get delivered there.
When I had to go through the process of signing up it is quite a long process that needs multiple forms of ID. I had to show my passport and upon looking at it, the gentleman that owns the shop saw ‘Melbourne, Australia’ as the birthplace and shrieked – “MCG!!!” “CRICKET!!!” He nearly lost it! He started asking questions not stop – “You like CRICKET?!” “Have you been to the MCG?” “What is happening with the AUSSIES???!” I told him how I actually worked a few weeks in the MCC Library and had met Shane Warne and been to day/night matches to which everyone that works there were floored and SO excited. From that moment I was told “We will look after you!” “Anything you need while you are here, you come and see us!” I had basically been adopted by a family in my first week of moving here.
Although I forgot to ask their team and I was unsure if they were Pakistani or Indian. And how does one go about this? It was a frequent conversation point and when Kat stayed here, she even went up there to see if she could figure it out. It remained a mystery and I just thought I will find out some time when I least expected to.
That was a few months ago. Whenever I go in there I always hear “Nothing from your mum today!” “No candy from home!” or “Lots for you today!!!” They are almost as excited by my mail as I am (mind you – they have over 200 mailboxes!) They really do look after me.
Unfortunately this week, because of work I was only able to check my mail once and I just made it in there before closing time. The minute I walked in, I was pounced upon by the owner… “What has happened to the Ausssieeeeeeees today?!?!?” “No good in cricket anymore!!” and they went on to recite all the scores and stats for the game so far. As soon as I heard that I knew – they were Indian. The mystery was solved and I joked that I would have to not say one thing about the Indian cricket team if I wanted my mail to remain safe.
Here is a picture of my little mailbox shop/cricket discussion place and when they are all there, I must get a photo with my Mailbox Family. They have been just fabulous to me!
