SOLSC March 6: An Adventure Doing a New Thing

            It’s always an adventure to do something for the first time. Today I had one of those adventures.

            I had to send a package with return shipping included, and the place I was sending it to said FedEx would be a good way of sending it. So I packed up the bag I was sending for repair, addressed it and sealed it before I remembered I had to put in return shipping. It sat on a shelf for a few weeks until today, when it seemed it was time.

            I live in New York City, so most errands can be done by walking. There’s a FedEx storefront four blocks away. Since Covid, when I go out to an errand in the neighborhood or just for a walk, I only take my phone, my keys, and a credit card. When I got to the FedEx store, the first thing I saw was a sign saying that if I was going to pay by cash, check, or credit card, I needed a government-issued photo ID.

            Oh, no. I hadn’t brought any of that. What could I do? The clerk I asked said I could use the self-service screen if I had no ID. Okay, I’d never done that here before, and maybe I’d need some help, but I’m game to try something new.

            The system was pretty direct, but there were a lot of glitches and weirdnesses. When I had to type in my address, a drop-down menu appeared that let me know that there is a Riverside Drive in many towns around the country; my Riverside Drive didn’t show up until I’d started to type “Ne...” When I put in the address to send to, I needed to include the phone number and e-mail address, so I used my phone to look up that info, since I certainly didn’t know that, and the system wouldn’t go any further until I’d added that information.

            I got my label to ship the package. But I had to start all over again to get the return shipping. This time the label didn’t come out. The clerk who’d been helping me whenever I hit a snag knew that this was something that needed her expertise. At first she’d been a bit grudging — did she think I was an old person who would need her to do everything? — but by now she had seen that I’d done most of it myself, and we both laughed as the printer finally spit out a whole long line of, mostly blank, labels.

            Finally, I put my package and the return shipping into a FedEx Pak, put the label on the Pak, and left it with FedEx. Left and went for a nice walk.

SOLSC March 6: An Adventure Doing a New Thing

            It’s always an adventure to do something for the first time. Today I had one of those.

            I had to send a package with return shipping included, and the place I was sending it to said FedEx would be a good way of sending it. So I packed up the bag I was sending for repair, addressed it and sealed it before I remembered I had to put in return shipping. It sat on a shelf for a few weeks until today, when it seemed it was time.

            I live in New York City, so most errands can be done by walking. There’s a FedEx storefront four blocks away. Since Covid, when I go out to an errand in the neighborhood or just for a walk, I only take my phone, my keys, and a credit card. When I got to the FedEx store, the first thing I saw was a sign saying that if I was going to pay by cash, check, or credit card, I needed a government-issued photo ID.

            Oh, no. I hadn’t brought any of that. What could I do? The clerk I asked said I could use the self-service screen if I had no ID. Okay, I’d never done that here before, and maybe I’d need some help, but I’m game to try something new.

            The system was pretty direct, but there were a lot of glitches and weirdnesses. When I had to type in my address, a drop-down menu appeared that let me know that there is a Riverside Drive in many towns around the country; my Riverside Drive didn’t show up until I’d started to type “Ne...” When I put in the address to send to, I needed to include the phone number and e-mail address, so I used my phone to look up that info, since I certainly didn’t know that, and the system wouldn’t go any further until I’d added that information.

            I got my label to ship the package. But I had to start all over again to get the return shipping. This time the label didn’t come out. The clerk who’d been helping me whenever I hit a snag knew that this was something that needed her expertise. At first she’d been a bit grudging — did she think I was an old person who would need her to do everything? — but by now she had seen that I’d done most of it myself, and we both laughed as the printer finally spit out a whole long line of, mostly blank, labels.

            Finally, I put my package and the return shipping into a FedEx Pak, put the label on the Pak, and left it with FedEx. Left and went for a nice walk.

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I’m participating in the 16th annual Slice of Life Challenge over at Two Writing Teachers. This is day 6 of the 31-day challenge.  It’s not too late to make space for daily writing in a community that is encouraging, enthusiastic, and eager to read what you have to slice about.  Join in!