Nick Jimenez

Opening mail may never be the same

The envelope with the handwritten address arrived with the rest of the day's mail. Before Sept. 11 and before the outbreaks of anthrax, all delivered via the mails, I would have not have hesitated to rip it open, just like I do scores of letters and packages I get every week.
   Newspapers, like other businesses, get lots and lots of mail. And one of the fun parts of this job is opening the mail that comes to the editorial pages. It is, to say the least, opinionated.
   There are pleas on behalf of the forests, bears in Alaska, the poor old oil industry, the struggling banks. The mail brings reasons why we ought to ditch Social Security, or save Social Security. There are drumbeats against the takeover of politics by big money, and equally emphatic cases made that clamping down on money in politics is the equivalent of stifling speech.
   Do you get the picture? Much of the mail that comes to this desk would, if spoken, be in the high sound decibels, from people with a lot at stake in the system.
   It's not unusual to get mail from folks who oppose our own opinions. The overwhelming majority are people who just have a different view of things, who offer constructive alternatives, and add immeasurably to the debate. Then there are the other guys, always, without exception, anonymous.
   Before Sept. 11, receiving a few weird letters was part of the job. Then, added to the general anxiety of life in post-World Trade Center America, came the chilling discoveries of anthrax spores. Four have now died. The transcript of the 911 call made by Washington, D.C., postal worker Thomas Morris Jr. at 4:39 a.m., on Oct. 21, as he struggled to get his breath, not knowing he was near death, is unnerving and heartbreaking.
   The envelope I received the other day was white, with block hand lettering, and sealed with transparent tape. Maybe it was the transparent tape that raised eyebrows. Maybe it was the return address: P.O. Box 9136. That's the newspaper's address. And it seemed to have more heft than most letters. And it was addressed specifically to me.
   We kidded around about the envelope. But the reality of the situation is that, however small the chance, everything is now possible. And that's a shame.
   E-mails are enormously popular and you can't beat them for getting quick responses. But nothing can beat a letter in the mail from a friend or a loved one. There's something about a well-written letter, better yet if put on good stationery with a fountain pen (remember those?), that makes for a special moment. On occasion, I use an old typewriter I have that is as good as the finest fountain pen. The point is that the arrival of the mail is still special to me; I miss the mail on holidays, even if it means I just didn't get any bills or yet another catalogue that day.
   Opening suspicious mail
   Every business now has its system to handle suspect mail and we have ours. Arturo de la Garza, the building maintenance supervisor, came to pick up the envelope. He donned gloves and a small mask - it's come to this - and left with the envelope to open it somewhere else.
   The envelope and its contents were, of course, harmless. Someone - the letter was signed - perhaps wasn't sure that the envelope would stay shut and had used tape. And in addressing the envelope, maybe this person got confused about our address and the return address. And writing on several sheets of paper will add weight to any letter.
   This is what the terrorists have done to us: made us suspicious of each other, made us cautious about even the most mundane things, even the mail. I say terrorists, although we don't know at this moment who is responsible. But whether it's Osama bin Laden or someone else, the anthrax spores that have killed four people constitute terrorism.
   Or maybe I should say that these are attempts at terrorism. We should be cautious, vigilant and prudent, but the instigators of the Sept. 11 attacks, as well as the devious minds who have planted deadly spores in the mails, succeed in terrorizing us only if we let them.
  
   Nick Jimenez can be reached at 886-3787 or by e-mail at jimenezn@caller.com.
  
  

 
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