# There was something different in my letterbox...advice please. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 19, 2004, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636 "2004-11-19T10:04:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/161 "2004-12-01T02:23:57Z")
Oh…there’s the update! :wally My computer evidently doesn’t know that I _mean_ it when I ask it to refresh. _slinks off, feeling really dumb_ ---
**Author:** ![Canadiangirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Canadiangirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadiangirl)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/162 "2004-12-01T13:14:07Z")
I’m am SO GLAD all my paranoid theories are wrong and that, when you get a note in your mailbox, you don’t disappear from the doper board forever! .Boy, Kiwi, this better be a good story!!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/163 "2004-12-01T13:27:44Z")
:: breathes a sigh of relief :: ---
**Author:** ![Searching\_For\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Searching\_For\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Searching_For_Truth)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/164 "2004-12-01T18:44:30Z")
Poor thing, she’s gonna get mobbed when she finally returns. (Get better soon, **calm kiwi** , and rest up!) I’m dying to know what happened on the date, myself. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/165 "2004-12-01T21:14:09Z")
But…but…what if **maleinblack** is the one who left the note in the mailbox!!!???!!! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/166 "2004-12-01T23:14:19Z")
Then wouldn’t he be **mailingreen**? 😃 I’m sorry. Somebody had to do it! Meanwhile, here’s a plate of brownies for those of us who are still waiting for word from **calm kiwi** , herself. Don’t worry. It’s a large plate! CJ ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/167 "2004-12-02T03:35:15Z")
> [@JeffB](#): > > But…but…what if **maleinblack** is the one who left the note in the mailbox!!!???!!! :eek: That was just plain mean, Dude. Now I must return to my previous state of concern. ---
**Author:** ![maleinblack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@maleinblack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maleinblack)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/168 "2004-12-02T07:28:31Z")
Damn **JeffB** I thought I had nearly pulled it off! I was the one who actually went all the way to NZ from MN to leave that note in her mailbox. Although not the truth, I would have loved to have done that. **Calm Kiwi** is one hot smoking babe. Get back soon CK, everyone wants to listen to the story. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/169 "2004-12-02T13:58:18Z")
Hey, at this time of year, who wouldn’t want to travel from MN to NZ? Do those brownies have nuts? I don’t like nuts in my brownies. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/170 "2004-12-02T14:35:58Z")
While we wait for **calm kiwi** to get over the flu and report… …one Mundane and Pointless thing that I’ve always wondered about is how come the concern always seems to be that the stranger one meets may be an axe-murderer? I mean, _specifically_ an Axe Murderer. How did this modality of crime become the _archetype_ for the psycho stranger? Not a cult recruiter, not a perv, not a terrorist, not a pusher, not a cannibal, not a necktie strangler, not a user of of guns, clubs, knives, chainsaws, machetes, meatcleavers, woodchippers, weedwhackers. Was there one specific notorious crime spree, media hysteria, or novel/movie that astablished the axe-murderer as **THE** Maniac to Look Out For? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/171 "2004-12-02T15:59:00Z")
Axe murdering is more stylish? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/172 "2004-12-02T16:51:53Z")
I would just like to say that when I went to meet my fiancee for the first time and no one heard from me, the all assumed that I had met some crazed pervert, not an ax murderer. Turns out that they were right. He is a crazed pervert, but he’s harmless and he’s cute so it’s ok. They even filed a missing persons report on me. I was only gone for 24 hours and I had a cell phone but they never called me. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/173 "2004-12-02T17:14:26Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > . . . They even filed a missing persons report on me. I was only gone for 24 hours and I had a cell phone but they never called me. I do a check-in call on my mother twice a week. If she doesn’t answer, I’m supposed to call her neighbor. We’ve never set a call time, but I usually call around 8 p.m. One day I didn’t call till 9 and she was frantic. “I didn’t know what to do,” she said, “I didn’t know if I should call your neighbor or the police or what.” “Why didn’t you call _me_?” I asked. “Oh, I never thought of that,” she replied. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/174 "2004-12-02T17:32:50Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > …one Mundane and Pointless thing that I’ve always wondered about is how come the concern always seems to be that the stranger one meets may be an axe-murderer? I mean, _specifically_ an Axe Murderer. How did this modality of crime become the _archetype_ for the psycho stranger? Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining? ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/175 "2004-12-02T17:36:05Z")
5 years after that fateful day, I’m still with the crazed pervert and my sister and best friend STILL harrass me about not calling them. Um…hello…I was 19 years old, living on my own for over a year. I didn’t see the need to check in with anyone while I was on a date. If they wanted to talk to me so badly, they should have just called me. Everyone knew where I was and I had even given my roommate the pervert’s parent’s phone number. So, where’s my brownie? I’ve been waiting since page 2, I think I’ve earned a brownie. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/176 "2004-12-02T17:44:06Z")
[Lizzie Borden](http://www.crimelibrary.com/lizzie/lizziemain.htm) , the archetypal axe murderer… ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/177 "2004-12-03T11:49:27Z")
Dammit, **calm kiwi** , it’s Friday night, when I usually run across you posting. Do you have any idea what the time is, young lady? Your mother and I have been worried sick, sitting up just waiting for you to call. But no, you were far too busy having a good time with your fancy friends, weren’t you? Well, just look at your poor mother - I just hope you’re happy at the state you’ve put her in. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/178 "2004-12-03T12:40:02Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Axe murdering is more stylish? 🙂 I dunno. I’d say chainsaws are quite a bit more stylish and have more of a flair to them. Also, their noisiness is almost a challenge to the victim: “Even though you can hear me coming from a long ways away, I bet you can’t do anything about it”. (The murder of that blonde girl on the staircase in American Psycho (the movie; haven’t read the book) comes to mind.) Anyway, get well soon **calm\_kiwi**! ---
**Author:** ![Salem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Salem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salem)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/179 "2004-12-03T13:05:09Z")
I think she’s probably typing and re-typing and deleting and editing and deleting all over again and having a coffee and trying again to come up with what she feels is a good enough post to meet up with the anticipated audience of her response. She’s probably half-buried in the wadded up paper of her efforts. Well, figuratively, of course, since it’d be darned hard to crumple up a hard drive and start all over again. So maybe we can reassure her that no one is expecting a brilliant post (unless, of course, you are) and would just like to know she’s ok, along with maybe a few tiny juicy details of what happened. No pressure. Seriously, hope you’re ok, **calm kiwi**. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636/180 "2004-12-03T14:06:01Z")
But **Neuroman, ratatoskK** , those examples would point to that you are likelier to be axed by someone in you already know, than by a random-stranger Ted Bundy type. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-was-something-different-in-my-letterbox-advice-please/275636.md?page=10)