Now mostly when you are approaching such a box you might just walk right by one, but if you are approaching one and you have the intent to mail, some mail, then there are things to consider.
You see if you want to mail something when approaching such a box, only have the mail in your hand. I mean, don't have the mail and your keys in your hand.
Also, don't have the mail in one hand and your purse or wallet or checkbook in the other hand.
You see id you are approaching such a public mailbox, only have the mail in your hands, and I will tell you why.
You see I am a retired 411 operator, and as an information operator, I talked to a lot of people over my time with the telephone company and I heard bad things from customers.
On one call, I might her a woman calling me and asking me for the number of the Postal Office. She told me she went to the public mail box and then to her bank. Well, at the bank she has her mail in front of her, and not her checkbook.
You see, she walked right up to the public mailbox and with her checkbook in one hand and her mail in the other hand, she accidently put her checkbook in the public mailbox, thinking she just dropped off her mail, but her mail was in her other hand and she took that mail to the bank.
Then at the bank, at the teller window, she looked down and she seen her mail and not her checkbook, then she realized that she mailed her checkbook and not her mail as she had her mail with her at the bank.
Can you see the mistake and it was an easy mistake, but how to fix that mistake, you see I could only give her the number of the Postal Service, but how many phone calls would she have to make to try and get her checkbook back?
I would report the missing checkbook to the bank and cancel any checks after a certain check number.
There was another call and a guy had his keys in his hand, with the same hand was holding his mail, he called me and wanted the number of the Postal Service as not only did he mail his mail, but he also threw his keys in with the mail as, he was holding his keys and his mail in the same hand.
You see, such an easy mistake, but hard to fix.
Hopefully he had other copies of his same keys, but some keys one might not have copies. I always have an extra set of keys that are copies of my main keys. You see, I seen people that got locked out of their car, with their keys in the car.
That can be remedied by calling AAA and tell them that you are lock out of your car with your keys in the car. And AAA will have a way to open up your car so you can go and get your keys, but if those same keys are in a public mailbox, then there could be some trouble trying to get those keys back.
The best I can do for the customer is to give them a number for the Postal Service.
As an operator I hear many stories similar to these over the decades while I was with the telephone company.
So now if you approach a public mailbox, with the intent to mail, some mail, make sure to only have the mail you want to mail in your hands and nothing else. Don't hold your mail in one hand and have your checkbook in the other hand and don't have your keys in your hand along with your mail as you can easily make a mistake of dropping off more than your mail into that public mailbox.
Let's end with a scripture, as it is written, For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7.
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Thank you, David.
Image is mine, taken with my Samsung Galaxy Note 9.