Bah! Humbug!

Last week I did something that made me feel like the grumpiest, scrooge of a person, but I felt as though I had no other option! Our "mailbox" is actually just a slot in our front door:

Apparently, either because this is not an actual mail box or because the UK does not have the strict mail laws that the US has, anyone and everyone who feels compelled to stick something through this slot can do so. That means that for the last year or more, everyday when we get home from work we get to spend a few minutes rifling through the fliers about group play dates, school bake sales, house cleaning advertisements, grand opening announcements, local pub menus, community newsletters, etc, etc until we find our actual mail. It's been a serious source of irritation since the day we moved in. Well, the other day I was home on my day off, busy doing chores and trying to get the house tidied up. The only problem was, EVERY TIME I walked passed the front door, someone had stuck more crap through the slot. I am not exaggerating when I say that between 9AM and 2PM I stopped and picked up the junk FIVE TIMES! Infuriated, I went to work on this:

The funny thing is, the entire time I was posting it, I found myself feeling embarrassed to be doing so. It felt like something that only a grumpy, old recluse would do, but I couldn't help it - I'd had enough!

I wish that was the end of the story, but it's not. Today I stooped to new grouchy-old-cat-lady levels. Once again, however, I'll claim that it was not my fault...I was driven to it! You've now all seen the unmistakable sign I posted on our mail slot. There's no missing it, right? Well, this afternoon (after the real mail had already come), I heard the familiar clank of the mail slot. You can imagine my surprise when I went out to find somebody's stupid fliers about their cleaning-come-delivery services. Irritated, I opened the door and said to the lady who had by then made her way further up the street, "Excuse me, we don't accept unsolicited mail." Then I held out the fliers for her to come and collect. After I closed the door behind me, I heard those grumpy words echoing in my head, "Bah! Humbug!" Truth be told, I felt a little bad about the whole thing. The guilt, as it turns out, was very short lived. Guess what I found on the floor inside my mail slot not 10 minutes later! Dang you Cambridge Van Man/Spotless Cleaning Services!!