This morning, for no good reason, I opened this month's envelope from Food for the Poor, a charity to which I donated once, two Christmases ago, and which has faithfully continued to mail me something every month, hoping that I'll donate again. This month's envelope contained the usual plea for money and return envelope, along with a free gift: address labels. Two pages of neatly printed self-stick labels containing my name and address.
Let me tell you about address labels. When I moved into my very own apartment in 2003, a place where I knew I'd be living for more than just a few months, it was just before my birthday, and my mom asked me what I might like for a birthday gift. "Address labels!" I immediately said, picturing the little stickers with kittens or Disney characters or my monogram, with my name and address printed importantly to the right, affixed to countless envelopes for the rent, phone, electricity, car insurance, and loan payments I was now responsible for. You don't get address labels for a temporary residence because you'll move before they get used up; but for a place where I planned to live for a few years, it seemed a fitting way to mark my arrival -- perhaps not even so much my arrival at the apartment, but more, my arrival into adulthood. A great, big, colorful, self-stick sign, announcing that I was now independent of my parents.
"Address labels?" Mom snorted, breaking me out of my reverie. "You can print those yourself, or I can print you some." She didn't print me any, and I didn't have a printer, and now I felt too silly to order some for myself. So I humbly continued to write my return address on all my envelopes, and never brought the subject up again. (And satisfied myself by purchasing the expensive and adorable Disney checks from my bank, which also happen to have my address printed on them. Vive la independence!)
But today, oh glorious joy! Those beautiful address stickers, and all the minutes of writing they will save me each month as I pay my bills! And then I look more closely at the honoriffic in front of my name.
Mr. Leslie E. McE
*sigh*