Picunurse,
Thanks for your (unsigned) postcard, copied exactly below.
The postmark said your home city, and you were the only one from the city taking part in the postcard exchange. Just to make sure someone wasn’t being a jerk and dropped off a postcard while on vacation to your city I decided to look up your name in yahoo people search and call you. I know some people will say it would have been more apropriate to e-mail, but I felt this was important and I thought I should ask you in real time about this.
Here is roughly the conversation I had with you about an hour ago. It wasn’t long so it wasn’t hard to remember.
Pic:Hello?
me: Hi, could I talk to Picunurse (I won’t use your real name because only myself and those involved in the postcard exchange know it and I would’ve been pissed if someone just stated my full name on a message board without my concent) sorry to be calling you out of the blue, but this is Clayton (oddly, on the spur of the moment I decided to say my full name instead of “Clayton_e”. That’ll make more sense in a second). You might know me from the Straight Dope message boards.
Pic: This is Picunurse.
me: I know you’re part of the Straight Dope postcard exchange. I recieved a postcard in the mail from someone in your city and I wanted to ask you about it to see if there is some sort of not funny practical joke being played on us. Did you send me a postcard with a picture of a waterfall on the front with the name Sno sn… sorry I can’t see what it is (the name was printed in fancy lettering)
Pic: Snoqualmie, yes (I later found the readable spelling on the back). I sent you that.
me: I was disturbed by what you wrote and wanted to ask you about it.
Pic: I wrote a lot of postcards, sorry… I can’t remember exactly what I wrote on yours.
me: (reads the short note on the card)
Pic: Oh, oh yes. I think you’re thinking way to far into this… (the following is put together from 30 seconds of random half sentences) its just that you didn’t use your full name and used a business address.
me: Well, call me paranoid, but I personally didn’t want to put my full name and address together and send it to whoever decided to be a part of the post card exchange just in case someone decides to post the list someplace. I could then know what mail to at least give a second look at before opening.
And that isn’t a business address, I live at a college. I live at that address. Rather than accusing me of hiding something and saying how sorry you feel for me you could have just put a phone number where I could reach you or you could’ve asked me to e-mail you the answer to why I didn’t give post my full name.
Pic: Well most of the other people put phone numbers. (?! I don’t have the slightest clue what the hell you’re talking about. I didn’t see phone numbers on the list I was e-mailed.)
me: I was disturbed by what you wrote and (sound of another phone being picked up and buttons dialed)
Pic: My husband is getting bothered by this, I’m hanging up.
click
Thanks to everyone else that I recieved cards from, I’m taping them to a wall in my room. I hope you didn’t get one like that.