Mailing a package in Mexico is always an adventure. You walk into the Oficina de Correos with a box properly addressed and ready to go, confident you will get in and out of there quickly.
“You want to mail this?” asks the post office clerk.
“ Yes, of course!”
“It’s not wrapped.”
“It’s taped!”
“Tape is forbidden. You need to use wrapping paper and string.”
Six months later you walk in to the same post office with a box wrapped in brown paper only to discover that wrapping paper is out, string is no longer allowed, and tape is in.
I once walked into a post office in Jamaica with a coconut upon which I had stuck an address label and a stamp.
“Sorry, mon, dis coconut needs to be wrapped. “
“This coconut has already been wrapped by Mother Nature,” I replied. “No box could give better protection.”
In Jamaica, I actually managed to send my coconut au naturel, while in Mexico I don’t think I’d have a chance.
Please login or subscribe to view the complete article.