The Mailbox

In a creative writing class I once took here in my city in Florida, all the attendees were asked to write a short paper on the subject of the mailbox. Often people think these are silly assignments to write about, but often they are extremely thought provoking, which of course is the idea of creative writing--to create.

My paper, after giving it careful thought, was the one below.

THE MAILBOX

A mailbox in today’s world is nearly as necessary as the food we must all consume in order to maintain our general health. Eating the right foods is essential for a person to be healthy and even happy, while eating the wrong foods may cause a person to be unhealthy, and often add to their unhappiness. The receipt of positive types of mail from a mailbox might have similar effects on a person as eating the right foods, just as the receipt of negative types of mail could have the same effect as eating the wrong types of food. It all depends on what that mysterious mailbox container has in it when we open it to retrieve whatever it holds.

A common mailbox is often the delivery instrument of messages in a variety of forms—messages that can have different effects on different people. There are those who live for the moment the mail is delivered. They hunger to hear from a loved one, a relative, a friend, an acquaintance, and sometimes even hearing from a total stranger will suffice. Consider the case of a lonely person with no living relatives; think what a note of encouragement from a friend might mean to them, or a birthday card, a Christmas card, or just a card of thanks or one of friendship. A short written message or a thoughtful card is often all that it takes to brighten the day of a lonely individual. It may cause them to beam with happiness and have a smile for everyone they meet the rest of the day. Even junk mail may cause a very lonely person to have a better day, simply because he or she received something in the mailbox with his or her name on it. That piece of junk mail may have made them feel like a real person again for a moment in time.

On the other hand, consider what else a mailbox might deliver to someone. For a person without the discipline to handle money well, a mailbox could bring daily grief in the form of past-due bills and statements of money owed. Grief may also come through the receipt of a letter expressing sadness due to the death of someone a person loves, perhaps a relative or a close friend. A letter from a lover announcing the end of a relationship can often be so sad that it could devastate a person.

A mailbox may also contain unexpected treasures—perhaps photos of grandchildren, a check from a surprise source, or perhaps even a letter from an attorney disclosing one has inherited an estate from a deceased relative. Sometimes after many years a child raised as an orphan or by adoptive parents will contact a natural parent by mail.  

There are people who live alone and cannot get out to do basic shopping for some of the necessities of life such as clothing or medication. For them, a catalog received in the mailbox is sometimes a godsend. For those who have serious health problems, a mailbox is often the instrument used to send off an order for medical supplies, and then to receive those necessary life-giving supplies. Yes, a mailbox is sometimes even a lifeline.

Inserting envelopes with checks in them into a mailbox is a common method of paying bills and sending gifts of money for weddings, graduations, birthdays and other occasions. Delivering a message of condolence, a thank you, a get-well message, and cards for nearly any occasion may be done using a mailbox.

A beautiful mailbox does not always bring beautiful and welcome news; it may bring terrible and heartbreaking news, while the most mundane of mailboxes may deliver a most welcome and beautiful message.

A mailbox may come in many styles and sizes, be comprised of basic metallic content, or plastic, or almost any kind of material imaginable. A mailbox may even be in non-physical form such as an Internet or e-mail mailbox where one can compose and send messages electronically to people all over the world in the blink of an eye, as well as receive the same.

In summary, a mailbox is sort of an instrument of dichotomy in that it can be viewed as both a positive and a negative instrument at the same time—all depending on what type of mail content it delivers to an individual, or how that mail content is perceived. Often good news and bad news may come at the same time.

 

Paul Meredith

2003