Treats packaged, presents wrapped, boxes filled with the tastes of Christmas and gifts for under the tree. One box was reused from an Amazon order, the other was a paper box from my office. Covered in paper, tape at every seam, addressed and ready to go. Both boxes delivered to the grocery store that has a postal service counter. The young man behind the counter tells me it will be about a week before my boxes arrive on the west coast. There’s plenty of time, I think. Little did I know where my boxes would go, but I would follow their path with my tracking numbers.
Thursday, I wondered where the boxes were. I used my handy tracking numbers to check on their progress. Box 1 was already in California. I was shocked! It left Springfield, MO and didn’t stop until it got to Bell Gardens, CA. Then it went to Santa Ana, CA for a quick stop before getting to Irvine, CA. I needed to let my daughter-in-law to be on the lookout Friday for this box. Of course, I did not know if it was the big box or the small box.
That was surprisingly fast, but then I checked my second number and I couldn’t quite believe what the tracking number told me. This box went to Des Moines, IA. What? Why did two boxes with the same destination take two completely different routes? This box hung around Des Moines twenty-four hours before moving on down the road. Finally, it arrived in Bell Gardens. Good, I thought, it’s back on track. That track did not last long. The next check revealed it was in Richmond, CA, which is up by San Francisco. What? Now I started to wonder if the clerk gave me the right tracking number. Something is terribly wrong here! I’m starting to panic, but what can I do?
One week after beginning the journey, the box has been returned to Bell Gardens. This morning the tracker reported it checked in at Santa Ana and is on the way to its next stop. Hopefully, that will be Irvine and soon my family in California will be munching on some Christmas treats.
elsie tries writing 