Illustration by Chris Philpot.
SALAMI SHENANIGANS
In 1966, RAY GOLDSTEIN was a graduate student in Las Cruces. As a native New Yorker in the land of green chile, he was also sorely missing the taste of a good kosher salami. He told his father, a pharmacist back home, of his craving, so Mr. Goldstein wrapped one up and sent a clerk to a Brooklyn post office to mail it to his son in New Mexico. The clerk soon returned to the pharmacy with—drumroll, please—an international postal form for Goldstein’s father to complete.
TEXAS BAGGAGE
DEBRA DRYER was traveling with her mother-in-law to Tucumcari when their flight to Albuquerque was canceled due to winter weather. After they were rerouted to Amarillo, Texas, Dryer’s mother-in-law’s luggage failed to arrive at the baggage claim. The airline assured them that the bags would be delivered to their destination. So the women picked up a rental car and headed to Tucumcari. Soon the airline called and asked where the luggage should go. Upon hearing Tucumcari, New Mexico, the agent declared that delivery service was not available to destinations outside the country. It took a little conversation and some convincing, but Dryer’s mother-in-law eventually got her bag.
DELIVER US FROM IGNORANCE
In the town of Dexter, located southeast of Roswell, J. MIERKE ordered a cordless polesaw from Amazon. She soon found that the company refused to deliver to her location. Phone calls to correct the situation did not resolve the problem. So Mierke had it sent to a friend in Lubbock, Texas—180 miles away. Talk about a buzzkill.
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