Shipping and Receiving

I'm pretty sure that, no matter how rich and blessed they are, the vast majority of people wish they had just a little more space in their home (or homes). I am not alone.

The above photo is of my living room. Why does it look this way? I'll tell you.

Unless a resident of State College, PA, wishes to purchase 90% of their goods at Wal-Mart, Target, or Kohl's, one must rely on mail order. So, shown here, are boxes from my daughter's sewing machine, plastic bits and bobs for my daughter's upcoming birthday party, and a refrigerator-sized box for a smallish lamp ordered from crate and barrel. The lamp was also enclosed in two more boxes of diminishing size that are inside of the large box.

On occasion, I am lucky to find clothing at Target. Sometimes I find a piece or two at the increasingly-vacant mall. Wal-Mart I don't do. Ninety percent of my clothing is purchased through mail order. Each spring and autumn my living room looks far worse than this. Incoming are shoes, sweaters, Ts, skirts. Outgoing are 90% of the incoming. I try again. More bags and boxes arrive.

Then there's pet supplies to deal with. We do have one pet store. It doesn't carry what we need. So incoming are boxes of pet meds, treats, toys, etc.

We like books. Our one chain store that sells new books doesn't like to carry much. So we order from Amazon. Even more boxes. We like books.

My fabric and art supplies must be ordered. This also includes supplies for shipping (but not boxes, we've got that covered). While I hoard the bubble wrap that sometimes comes with my mail order goods, its not enough. I have to order bubble wrap. It comes in a big box. I even have to mail order thread. Good grief. Also incoming are paints, fabric, foamboard, scissors, glue, paper, brushes, sponges, vintage items, etc.

In my fantasy world, there is another room attached to my house. Its a wonderful room. Large. With windows, yet plenty of wall space. It has a double door with a ramp out to the alley. This is where deliveries are made. This is where items are wrapped and packaged to go out. This is shipping and receiving. It is a glorious room. It might even have an employee in it.

Shipping and receiving has long, wide tables for packing tasks. A recycling center. Open shelves for supplies. Small envelopes for mailing letters. Large envelopes for mailing elephants. Bubble wrap of all sizes. Containers for those damn foam peanuts that certain companies insist on using. Stamps. Paper cutters. Foam mailers. Foam board. Box cutters. Scissors of all sizes. Phone books. Lists of suppliers. My freakin' FedEx #. Coffee maker. Sink. Bactine and bandaids. A wide variety of tape in dispensers that can actually be refilled. And the aforementioned employee. Hopefully burly.

Instead I have a front door that opens straight into the living room and a back door that opens straight into the kitchen.

I'm going back to bed so I can dream of my own personal shipping and receiving.