Page 183 - The Voice of Authority

Humming to myself while the installer hangs the sec-
ond set of woven-woods, I dream of privacy in the
bedroom. But the installer comes down the hall shak-
ing his head. “You wanted a double-pull wood,
Ma’am? I’m afraid the factory made another mistake.
Or someone copied down your order wrong again.
I’m going to have to send this back, too.”
On the third delivery, I am afraid to look. “Ma’am,”
the installer said, “you’re not going to believe this, but
they made the same mistake. It’s the same one we sent
back to the factory.”

We begin to wonder, have we been singled out for this
persecution? The second week after our move when
mail dwindles to “Dear Occupant” circulars, a trip to
the old address produces approximately an eight-
inch stack of first-class mail.
Yes, various clerks responded, the Post Office does
still have the change-of-address notice on file. But fre-
quently a sub is on the route and possibly nobody has
told him to forward the mail. The supervisor prom-
ises to “take care of it personally.” Four months and
numerous phone calls later, my husband resorts to re-
moving the mailbox from the pole to stop the mail
from going to the old address.
Anticipating such “disruptions of service,” we had
planned early phone installation: one month before
M-Day, we had called to have telephone service trans-
ferred.

Four weeks later and before we have actually moved
into the new house, the installer phones me at the old
house. He wants to know where I am. He is at the
new residence to hook up the phone and the house

Is It Circular? 171