We got a new mailman, and our mail stopped. No mail for about two weeks.

We figure there’s a new mailman and put a sign on the door asking him to buzz so he can get the key. No mail.

We call the post office and they actually let us talk to our mailman, Bruce….

Our mailbox is behind a door that’s sometimes locked. When Bruce inherited the beat, he didn’t inherit the set of keys from the old one.

Bruce complained about not being able to get in. We asked him why he didn’t ring the buzzer. He said he had. We told Bruce he must be mistaken because we work from home and would’ve heard it. His supervisor tells the same cockamamie story. This is a Friday. We ask him to please ring the buzzer on Monday (we’re out of town Saturday).

On Monday we call the post office again to remind Bruce to please ring the buzzer. He agrees. We set up a webcam to watch the street in case he walks by, and wait.

Late that evening, the buzz comes. We see Bruce and he starts yammering again about the key. He shows us his key chain and asks us to see if our key is on it. We make a show of looking through the keys. He tells us how we need to install a key guard outside the apartment because they’re not supposed to carry any keys.

We say, okay, we’ll do that but until we get that installed, why don’t you just take this key, and we pressed the key into his palm. It’ll make both our lives easier, we say.

And now we get our mail. Good timing, too, because we just bought a Wii. — BEN POPKEN

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