today i will go stand in line with dozens of unhappy people waiting to hand over their hard-earned money to postal personnel.

growing up, my family would make the annual trek to the post office around 10:30 p.m. on the night of the 15th ("might as well keep our money and draw interest on it until the last possible moment," my dad would explain). the family cat, puddy, would often join us for the trip. i'm still not sure why we thought he would enjoy the ride-along. oddly, i have fond memories of these late night excursions and watching the long line of long-faced people dropping off manila envelopes. but that's probably because i wasn't in line with them.