Posted By:
Rob RayLuckily,I have only had one instance in which my local (Brooklyn) PO has obviously tampered with a package I have received.
Long story short...one of the backroom PO workers was in cahoots with a local Genovese Store employee,and they teamed up to actually split up the contents of a large package I had received from Howard's Sports Cards.
I was shocked, when,upon just happening to go into the Drug Store (now it's a Rite Aid) the evening after my package from Howards was received with empty contents...I noticed this Genovese store punk showing to his co-worker a Bob GIbson RC, a 59 Mantle card,and a Lou Brock RC...three of the cards out of the 6 or 7 I had ordered from Howards. Too coincidental.
I was at the cashiers line,noticed this,managed to contain myself,and said to the kid "hey,nice cards!". He didnt know I had been paying attention,and he quickly put them behind him on a shelf. I then told him I KNEW they were my cards,and I knew he had stolen them. Instead of defending himself,he said "Prove it"...and I KNEW the gangsta punk was guilty right away.
The kid never was prosecuted,neither was the gansgta PO employee,who I realized often hung out together at a local bar.
But they knew I knew....
I tried to get at the source,but nothing was done even though the PO AND Genovese SAID they were "investigating" the matter.
Luckily,Howards was understanding and actually amde good on this,even though it was NOT their fault (always enjoyed dealing with them).
One good ending to this...I actually saw the same genovese employee being arrested outside of a local dance hall one night. He looked like he had taken the worst in a beating. i guess the gangsta lifestyle had caught up to him, even in a minor way.
But what always got to me,back in the day when I received many different baseball pubs (hobby and otherwise)...SO MANY times it was patently obvious that the PO employees (one I knew of...getting to that) actually READ my magazines before delivering them.
One time I was walking home early to work one day,the mailman (a differrent guy) was hanging out outside my house by the corner of the block...READING my Beckett's Vintage magazine while leaning against a fence.
Ten minutes later he was gone,and the mag was in my mailbox! he also more than likely was the guy who delivered my baseball weekly with thumb-page dents,and even with torn covers....once,believe it or not...with a large coffee-cup stain in the middle of one of the pages!
Of course,most of the local PO employees are honest,hardworking etc etc. But when it hits home...everything seems magnified.