05172016Tue
Last updateFri, 13 May 2016 3pm

Anatomy of a book mailing

We have successfully mailed copies of our book “Outdoors in Western Mexico” to people living overseas, but never without a certain amount of tragicomedy, mystery and surprise, which all too often accompany a visit to Correos de México.

One of those mysterious and surprising events took place two years ago when a post office clerk casually mentioned that they no would longer allow a book to be mailed in an envelope, even if that book is a thin paperback. “The book must be mailed in a box,” we were told unequivocally.

A check of several shops suggested that nowhere in Guadalajara could we purchase a box close to the size of our book. As a result, I became a box maker, hand-crafting custom-made boxes for people in far-flung places who — for some reason — wanted a book about hiking in western Mexico, with the understanding, I should add, that the book would take at least a month to arrive... about as long as it would take a burro to carry it to the border, I calculated.

Then one day something unbelievable happened. We, ourselves received a book from a friend in Mexico via Correos … and it was in an envelope! 

Off we went to the Post Office, where we were told: “You are wrong. That book was not in an envelope, señor, it was in a sobre acolchado (bubble-wrap envelope)... con esos no hay problema.”

“It makes perfect sense in Correo-Speak,” I told Susy. So ended my box-making career, and our next book went to the Post Office in a you-know-what lined with bubble-wrap. This time, however, we were told that the price of sending books had suddenly increased. “It will now cost you 140 pesos to send that 200-peso book,” the smiling clerk told us, “but you will be happy to learn this new price includes tracking.”

Please login or subscribe to view the complete article.

No Comments Available