Here in America, we have a new form of larceny: stealing delivered packages from porches and stealing mail from mailboxes. Every day--EVERY DAY--I read messages on local internet chat sites posting doorbell camera pictures of these activities and/or inquiring about missing shipments that were marked as "delivered". The thieves are Equal Opportunity felons; i.e. they don't care what's in the boxes they steal, and they steal from anyone. I'm guessing that the purpose of this is to be able to sell the contents for money. Some people are known to follow delivery trucks around neighborhoods just to snatch the delivered packages instantly.
The mail thieves are a more recent problem. They are taking actual mail out of mailboxes, both on the street and on houses. One recent homeowner found her mail thrown on the street. All of the Christmas cards had been opened and discarded because they didn't contain cash or gift cards. It's crazy.
Three years ago, I sent my grandson an online gift, which he got, then followed up with a birthday card containing a $20 bill and a Starbucks gift card. It never arrived. I mean, the US Postal Service warns not to send those things by mail, but I'd done it for years without a problem. I KNEW I was taking a risk but did it anyway. Lesson learned. I think sending a greeting card, with or without anything extra inside, is a trigger for thieves. Greeting card + money or gift cards = theft. OR greeting card without anything = still theft, just in case. Nothing is sacred anymore! What's worse is that when I mentioned that my mail to my grandson never arrived, the clerk at the USPS window seemed irritated with me. "If it doesn't have a tracking number, we can't help." I had no idea that simple mail could even have a tracking number. How does that happen...and is it worth it? Stolen mail is stolen mail, and no tracking number will change that.
Other than that one instance, I have not experienced any porch pirates or mail thieves, but it affects me. I no longer send cash or gift cards. I do send checks, but never in greeting cards because they become targets for theft. (And, unfortunately, my grandkids don't seem to know what to do with checks!) It hurts me to know that even the sacred US Mail isn't free of problems. (Please understand that I know that the USPS isn't at fault in this. It's a social problem--not a mail delivery problem.)
These crimes are so prominent now that there can't be any surprise packages. I have to alert the people I'm sending things to that it's on the way and to look for it. It's also so common that law enforcement can barely keep up. Were I police, I would do what I could do but would have to put this on the back burner in order to take care of other, more major crimes. I get it. I also get that citizens are enraged that they are being robbed by unknown people who simply don't care. One lady complained that her stolen package was her dog's medicine. Another said what was stolen was specialized stuff for her business that wouldn't be of use to anyone else. And the list goes on...
I have no answers. Just complaints. It's a point of pride. I don't want to see the Bad Guys win. We, as a society, have too much to lose when this kind of theft goes unpunished. As long as it is lucrative to the thieves, it will continue. So many things have changed in my lifetime. I'm not always happy with them!
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