# Have you ever dropped something besides mail in a mailbox?



## Karen G (Sep 14, 2010)

Yesterday I had three errands to run:  Mail a letter, take a check to the bank for deposit, go to the store.  After mailing the letter I realized I didn't have the check. I went back home. I searched the car. I thought the only place it could be was in the mailbox with the letter.  So I called the place that had issued the check. They stopped payment and said they'd send a new check.

Today I got an envelope in the mail (less than 24 hrs. after mailing the letter) and there was my check with a note that it had been found with the mail.   Thank you, USPS.


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## MommaBear (Sep 14, 2010)

My daughter's wallet was lost/stolen in Los Angeles, it appeared in her mail in North Conway courtesy of the post office- it had been dropped in a mailbox without the cash in LA!


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## wackymother (Sep 14, 2010)

As a kid, I was always very fascinated by those motel keys with the key chain that said, "Return postage guaranteed if found" and then the address of the motel. Remember those?


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## Talent312 (Sep 14, 2010)

I once dropped my car keys in a garbage can at a McDonald's in NC.
USPS was no where to be found, so I had to dig for them, myself.


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## pjrose (Sep 14, 2010)

I dropped in an envelope but had forgotten something - don't recall if it was the letter, stamp, address - I waited around till the postal employee came to empty the box and explained, and s/he let me fix the problem.

And yes, I remember the keys - MIL collected (or should I say "collected"?) them, boxes of them, and decades later we sold some on eBay.  The motels (or most of them anyway) no longer existed and even if they did, by then most were using cards, so we rationalized that eBay was ok.  Still have a bunch of them....


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## ricoba (Sep 14, 2010)

wackymother said:


> As a kid, I was always very fascinated by those motel keys with the key chain that said, "Return postage guaranteed if found" and then the address of the motel. Remember those?



Yes, and like you I thought they were cool.  

I haven't stayed in motel or hotel for years that still uses a key.


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## Passepartout (Sep 14, 2010)

ricoba said:


> Yes, and like you I thought they were cool.
> 
> I haven't stayed in motel or hotel for years that still uses a key.




Outside the USA, 'regular' keys are more common. In the Mazatlan TS we were at in Jan,  they gave me a wad of keys that made me feel like a jailer. Main door, deadbolt, cupboards, minibar, patio door. Then they made me sign a paper that said if I lost them, it'd cost me just short of my firstborn. Good incentive to leave them at the desk when going out, European style. Speaking of which in the low budget dives we've spent a few nights in in Europe, they still use big ol' honking 'skeleton type' keys. The kind with a keyhole you can see through.

Jim Ricks


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## Kona Lovers (Sep 15, 2010)

Our timeshare on Hawaii still uses keyed locks on the unit doors.

Regarding mailboxes:  although I haven't dropped anything foreign into one, I make sure if I mail anything important that I go inside the post office to mail it.  I always wonder if some prankster will drop their ice cream cone into a mailbox beside the road, or pour some beverage in it.  Just something I've always feared happening...


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## sdbrier (Sep 15, 2010)

*USPS*

I did this same thing for one of my customers just the other day. Went to collect the afternoon mail from the the collection box and found a check made out to a credit union and no envelope to be found. I came in and addressed an envelope, placed the check inside and mailed it to the owner. They were pleased to say the least. I still want SERVICE to be the main part of the Postal Service.:whoopie:


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## cissy (Sep 15, 2010)

This happened just last week at my neighborhood mailbox.  A couple of teenaged girls dumped orange juice into the box.  When another neighbor spoke to them about it, they just shrugged and walked away. Not sure what happened to the mail inside.


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## pkyorkbeach (Sep 15, 2010)

Wow!!

Funny and cute stories

What is wrong with some kids today???


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## rod (Sep 15, 2010)

My local lions club has one of those drive-up mailboxes that we use to collect used eyeglasses.  It is painted a bright yellow, has Lions Club emblems, outlines of eyeglasses, and signs saying it is "for the deposit of eyeglasses only" on all four sides.  It is also 2 blocks from the post office and across a parking lot from the local public library.

Just about every time the Lions member in charge collects the donated eyeglasses he also finds mail he drops off to the post office, returned books he drops off to the library, or both.


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## silverfox82 (Sep 15, 2010)

I live in a very small town and we don't have mail delivery. Many, many years ago when we were kids the PO was run by a very cranky old couple, they emptied the box outside the office themselves and we would leave little "surprises" for them from time to time. Now 50 or more years later I still won't mail anything in the outside box and wait until the office is open, I finally had to explain to my wife why. PS, she said the same thing you are probably thinking and it wasn't nice.


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## CSB (Sep 15, 2010)

We have a charity in Canada called War Amps. They help people adjust to the loss of limbs. Must have started as a war-time charity and never changed their name. If you give a donation, they send you a key tag which you put on your key chain. If you lose your keys and anyone drops them in a mailbox, they will be returned to you.

I had the good fortune to have my keys returned years ago and I always keep my key tags up to date.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 15, 2010)

pkyorkbeach said:


> Wow!!
> 
> Funny and cute stories
> 
> What is wrong with some kids today???



Today????

When I was a boy every now and then someone would drop a cherry bomb or an M-80 in a mailbox.


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## pkyorkbeach (Sep 15, 2010)

Hi TRO
Should have realized you would say something like that..


Tisk Tisk


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## Timeshare Von (Sep 15, 2010)

Nope but I almost dropped my postcards/mail into this dog poo box in Scotland!
Poop Box


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## Karen G (Sep 15, 2010)

Timeshare Von said:


> Nope but I almost dropped my postcards/mail into this dog poo box in Scotland!
> Poop Box


Yikes! I can see how one could mistake that for a mailbox.


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## isisdave (Sep 15, 2010)

Karen G said:


> Yikes! I can see how one could mistake that for a mailbox.



Awfully secure-looking thing.  Is dog poo a national treasure, like haggis, in Scotland?


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## Stressy (Sep 16, 2010)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> Today????
> 
> When I was a boy every now and then someone would drop a cherry bomb or an M-80 in a mailbox.



 

And as a little girl, I dropped dandelions in the big red, white, and blue box that resided on the curb for several years in front of my childhood home.


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## Timeshare Von (Sep 16, 2010)

isisdave said:


> Awfully secure-looking thing.  Is dog poo a national treasure, like haggis, in Scotland?



No kidding - complete with an official looking crest/seal on the face of it!


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## pkyorkbeach (Sep 16, 2010)

TimeShare Von
Thanks for sharing the picture
Did not know Scotland had these...

:hysterical: :hysterical:


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## Pens_Fan (Sep 16, 2010)

Now I've never done this in a mailbox, but in those clothes collection boxes that make you think they are for charity but are really taking the clothes and reselling it for personal profit.

I've dropped some dog poop in those.


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## Teresa (Sep 16, 2010)

*The mail drop box at our post office was broken into*

Forget about the ice cream thing (grin).  

Someone had broken into the mailboxes at the Main Post Office in our town.    Turns out it was some 'young adults'.   They had stolen all the mail that had been dropped in so it was somewhat of a nightmare for those people.   Federal charges are hitting those 'young adults'.   Would have probably been easier on them if they had mugged someone!   The post office took the boxes out for about 2 weeks - made it very inconvenient as it was the drive-by drop-off.   There are now video cameras out there.

My mom used to claim that someone was stealing the mail she was putting into her box at home.   And then she proved it!    She mailed some envelopes that looked the shape of a birthday card - and they never made it.   She mailed business size envelopes to the same address - and they made it.  So whenever she sent a birthday 'card' it was in a business envelope from then on.  She was sure the carrier was doing it but the Post Office branch she mentioned this to never told her anything.  She thought that they were looking for 'birthday money' - which she often sent with a card.



Kona Lovers said:


> Our timeshare on Hawaii still uses keyed locks on the unit doors.
> 
> Regarding mailboxes:  although I haven't dropped anything foreign into one, I make sure if I mail anything important that I go inside the post office to mail it.  I always wonder if some prankster will drop their ice cream cone into a mailbox beside the road, or pour some beverage in it.  Just something I've always feared happening...


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## Rose Pink (Sep 16, 2010)

CSB said:


> We have a charity in Canada called War Amps. They help people adjust to the loss of limbs. Must have started as a war-time charity and never changed their name. If you give a donation, they send you* a key tag which you put on your key chain. If you lose your keys and anyone drops them in a mailbox, they will be returned to you.*
> 
> I had the good fortune to have my keys returned years ago and I always keep my key tags up to date.


Please tell me your address is not on that key tag!  That just tells the thieves where the house/car is that can be robbed using the keys.


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## DeniseM (Sep 16, 2010)

Rose Pink said:


> Please tell me your address is not on that key tag!  That just tells the thieves where the house/car is that can be robbed using the keys.



With these kinds of tags, the tags go back to the sponsoring agency, and they mail them back to the owner.


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## Rose Pink (Sep 16, 2010)

DeniseM said:


> With these kinds of tags, the tags go back to the sponsoring agency, and they mail them back to the owner.


Good.  I was hoping that was the case.


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## pedro47 (Sep 16, 2010)

Yes! I drop our garage door opener in the mail box.


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## AKE (Sep 17, 2010)

And no donation is mandatory for War Amps - you just get a new set of key tags when you renew your car plates AND there also is an envelope with the key tags for those who wish to donate (cc or cheque...nor cash -  )


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