This is something Genesis P. Orridge asked once in Roman P.
Today I received a phone call from a postal inspector telling me that WHM was scared and concerned about a package I sent. The gentleman on the phone went on to tell me that the recipient mentioned that I had sent some incredibly thoughtful gifts but that he had refused the third and was now frightened.
The postal inspector said they had done some investigating (read: reading my e-mails about the missing package) and realized I was the person who had sent the one in question. (Good job Mystery, Inc.) He asked if I knew this person. I said I had. He wanted to know what that meant. We discussed the band the recipient had been in and he said, “Oh, so you are just a fan?” I replied, “Yes, a fan.” He went on to detail an inventory of the items I sent such as a tobacco tin, tobacco, etc. and then said that I had sent an antique Masonic book. Clearly the male he was speaking with does not know the difference between Masons and Templars – the person I sent the gift to would.
I asked if I could get the package back since it contained an antique bell and postcard?
He informed me that the package would be destroyed.
Further, he added that in this day and age people are scared by gifts that randomly show up at their homes. He reinforced that the recipient was surprised and extremely frightened and then wanted to know why I did not include my information or my return address? I tried to get him to supply some information. I went on about a claim process from the past (which did happen) and that providing the return address can result in lost packages. He provided zero information, when prompted, about the term for filing a claim or how mail was routed for the West Coast. I told him that it was not meant to scare the recipient and that nothing I sent was weird. He did not disagree with me.
I said that back when I knew the recipient these things were “part and parcel” for our group. The gentleman on the phone wanted to know exactly what “part and parcel” meant? Which was a good question from a nosy human and bad from an actual postal inspector at this point in the discussion. Plus, he did not answer the phone with United States Postal Service but instead just used his name. Either he has poor customer service skills, thinks he is FBI, was former military/security guard, or lacks the information that comes with the tenure I would expect from an inspector. Though he did apologize for my previous postal experiences.
Anyway, I said it was just the “norm for the group we were hanging out with.” He replied, “oh, okay.”
People in authority often think their investigations and analysis is one-sided. I am questioning, evaluating and judging them also.
Regardless, it was fine since I was parked, sitting in the car and waiting while my son finished his pizza. By the end of his questioning, he succeeded in making the recipient sound weak and defenseless, maybe even a bit confused or soft-minded, while I was made out to sound (accurately) like a calculating and mysterious predator with exceptional taste in gifts.
I simply asked him to tell the recipient that I was “surprised by his surprise.”
I did not realize he was not a vampyre anymore. I would have expected him to know it was me simply from his intuition. Is he no longer a magician? Are the COS old-guard and “secret society” members the new Elks? With his recent online references to “lodges in the sky” and heaven, well, who knows what happened. Thirty years is a long time for humans. Maybe my memories were messed with. Maybe his were. Perhaps we are going through a similar process and he is a few years behind me in waking up. My philosophies have not shifted. I do not think or live as a human.
Am I embarrassed or hurt by what happened today? No, the recipient’s limitations do not impact me.
However, I am out those items and the shipping so I wrote to the USPS, yet again, to find out about getting the box back.
The gentleman on the phone did make it sound as though all future gifts would be refused. So, on the positive side, it is good to know where I stand.
While these types of communication are not fun or how I would want events/outcomes to unfold, I had no real vision for what would come of these gifts. I was just reaching out, hoping he would remember me, and that it would show him that he is thought of and deeply cared for/loved.
However, I suppose these interactions are a bonus for adding new experiences and elements to my novels.
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