> Cecil Pinto wrote: > Does anyone know why parcels sent abroad have to be > compulsorily covered...
Cecil, Since you are not from East Africa, let me tell you what every E. African knows. In the good ol' days, His Majesty's govt used to deliver mail once a week, via coastal steamers, on the east coast of Africa. These vessels used to steam into small villages/settlements, drop off the mail, collect the taxes and leave. More often than not, His Majesty's Post Master was a Goan and he was the only literate person on these settlements. When the Post Master received any mail, he would immediately send word to the addressee informing him to come over, with all relatives, for "the reading." The relatives knew that the mail must be from the son who was now working/living in the big city. Everyone knew that the mail would contain news of either a birth or a death in the family. Once all the relatives were assembled, the Post Master would read the letter aloud. In 1886 in Shamba Shenzi, Zanzibar an event took place that changed the way mail was sent all over the world. A veteran Post Master died (1) and a new man was given the job. The inhabitants of Shamba Shenzi did not like the new Post Master as every letter he read was bad news. So one day the villagers had the new Post Master for dinner. After that event, the colonial govt decided that the coastal steamers would not berth in these small settlements. Instead, the vessel would slowly pass by in low gear but on full steam. An outrigger canoe would pull up to the side of the steamship, collect the mail and row back to the settlement. Since no one was willing to become the Post Master of these settlements, the colonialist solved the problem by using newly minted Standard IV leavers, from the mission schools, to become Post Masters. (2) Since the Standard IV leavers were only around ten years old, the village elders would cover the ears of the Standard IV readers in order to protect them from 'hearing' any bad or "adult" news while it was being read. In order to escape the ordeal of having someone put fingers into their ears, these young readers told the elders that the cloth bag/packing around the mail kept the secrets of the mail intact and that material was what should be used to stuff their ears. (3) Now you know why mail sent abroad has to be compulsory covered. (4) Mervyn3.0 (1) No, none of the Post Masters were named Mario. (2) These Post Masters served King George. (3) Fill in the g a p s :-) (4) No your not going to be able to google this anywhere else, I am creating my own urban legend. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
