"I thought this was funny - or irony?" Topic

One of our members tells me he has had problems sending online payments before, has been hacked, so he prefers to send his membership payment by check in the good old US mail.

He was wondering why I hadn't received it yet.

Now the letter has arrived – looks like it has been run over, crumpled, multiple small rips, dirt marks! If there was a cover letter, it's gone, but the check survived – very wrinkled, but should be cashable.

The next time he's worried about sending money, he might want to send the check inside an actual armored car.

I had something similar happen to me. We had the roof replaced and the first few checks came directly to me.

We had a great contractor who stood up to the insurance company for full coverage.

Anyway, there was balance due from our side. We cleared everything up and sent out the check. Several months later we got a call from the contractor's office asking about payment.

We checked on our side and our payment never cleared.

So, we cancel the old check and cut a new one. All went well and everything was good on both sides within a week.

Several more months pass and we get another call from the contractor's office; the original check finally showed up.

I did some work for someone, and that person, being much younger than I, wanted to pay via Zelle. So I made sure that my Zelle was OK with my bank and connected to the correct email address, and gave that information.

A while later, text message from my bank says, this person paid you $X via Zelle. Great, I thought, that worked.

The next day, my customer tells me that my bank rejected the Zelle payment. I check my bank account online, and the deposit isn't there. So I suggest that a check be sent.

The check arrived like the next day or the day after. I deposited it when I was near my bank. It cleared. So that happens.

Different but similar.
Orders some figs once, that didn't arrive. after a time I contacted seller who sent me a new shipment, which arrived in due time.
A couple of weeks later ( been about 3 months by now) the original order arrived.

Speaking of strange things, I was using AI, it got royally confused, and decided to turn this story into song lyrics (which I definitely did not request):

[Verse 1]
Online portals made him nervous
Said his password got flipped upside down
He'd rather trust the old-school post office
Than let some invisible hacker in town
So he licked the flap and dropped it in the box
Wrote out his dues with a steady hand
And wondered why my ledger stayed empty
Across the wire and the local land

[Chorus]
He was scared of the web, scared of the byte
Preferred a paper check sent out of sight
Well, the letter finally made it through the storm
Lookin' a bit worse for wear and form
Looked like it got run over on Route 9
A regular veteran of the postal line

[Verse 2]
The envelope arrived like it went to war
Tire treads stamped across the white
Crumpled edges, dirt marks, a dozen little rips
A regular casualty of the Friday night
If there was a cover note, it's long since gone
Swept away in the asphalt dust
But the check survived the heavy machinery
Provin' some things outlast our trust

[Chorus]
He was scared of the web, scared of the byte
Preferred a paper check sent out of sight
Well, the letter finally made it through the storm
Lookin' a bit worse for wear and form
Looked like it got run over on Route 9
A regular veteran of the postal line

[Bridge]
The bank teller raised an eyebrow at the desk
Smoothed out the wrinkles with a grin
Said "Sir, this piece of paper's got a story to tell
Wonder if the mailman's chasin' it still"

[Chorus]
He was scared of the web, scared of the byte
Preferred a paper check sent out of sight
Well, the letter finally made it through the storm
Lookin' a bit worse for wear and form
Looked like it got run over on Route 9
A regular veteran of the postal line

[Outro]
Yeah, the hacker didn't get him
But the Goodyear tire almost did
Cashable… barely
Keep it in an armored car next time, my friend

All I have to say is that when I was a lad, first class mail, delivered twice a day was $.03 USD/oz.
Today it's $.78 USD. That's hyper inflation, worthy of the Weimar Republic.

Reminds me of the time my brother sent my family a Christmas package of cookies (his wife used to buy HTG Italian cookies from a bakery). The package arrived torn up, taped together, a note it got mangled in the processing machinery, and some excellent chocolate chip cookies mixed in with the Italian ones. When I commented to my brother as to how good the chocolate chip cookies were, there was a pause on the line while he consulted with his wife, and he came back on to tell me they had not sent any.