Story of the Day 4/ 30/ 2013

This story should have been from April 15th.
Tax day.
Because it is about income taxes.
My neighbor asked me, this morning, if I was going to the post office.
She had received a piece of mail back , for missing postage, and wanted it to go out, TODAY.
It was her taxes.The federal ones.
She had owed a bit, and, as a result, decided to wait until the last minute to send her forms and her payment in.
Why pay them early?

But, somehow, she had either not attached the stamp well enough ...which, in this days of self-adhesive stamps is unlikely- or actually sent it off without first affixing a stamp.

I was impressed.
Normally, those letters take at least a month to wind their ways back to folks, but this one had done it in Only just over 2 weeks.

And caused my neighbor a bit of panic.
Especially since her car is out being repaired.
And she didn't want to give the forms to just anyone to mail, since , well, it had her social security number and other information enclosed.

But she felt she could true me with it.
Even though I am also airheaded enough to mail things ...and to forget to attach stamp.
Which you should have already figured out, since i know how long it takes for such a piece of mail to find its way back to me.

I asked her if she wouldn't' rather go on-line and file. It was free, I assured her.
I happen to know what her approximate income is, as she is retired and considers a trip to Goodwill to be a major financial transaction , so she falls into the " can use a free program to file" category.

She , slightly nervously, explained that she wouldn't file on-line because none of that information is secure. People hack sites all the time and someone could easily get her social security number and steal her identity.

I took the envelope from her, refusing the quarters she tried to give me.
I explained, " I have a stamp and will drive by and put it in the blue box outside the post office, is that okay?"
"Oh yes, that would be wonderful!"
I drove off thinking, her mail was left in her mailbox in the early afternoon.
It probably art there for a a few hours, until she took her evening way and brought it in on her way back into the house.
On a good day.
Because, she has on occasion, let it sit in her mail box for a day or two.
And with our neighbors and our mail person.....

She would be a lot safer filing on line.