The Move Toward Freedom Westward AKA The Continuing Story Of My Life>Act 4

Then there were those days between 2002 through early 2004 when I didn’t get my mail either at all or on time and if I did get it, it would either be covered with some unknown substance or partially opened. This was especially true if the letter or package was either something I ordered or was expecting. At least three worst case scenarios occurred within weeks of each other.

The first incident involved getting a photograph from the Evanston police department that was only located six blocks away from where I dwelled. I had graduated from the Evanston Citizen’s Police Academy (Class 16) and was waiting for what seemed like months for a photograph, but it never arrived.

When I called over to the proper department, they told me it had been mailed out to me three months ago! So we switched addresses to my P.O Box and the photograph showed up within a week’s time.

The second episode involved a magazine subscription that showed up eight weeks late! I was told it was mailed out to me in November, but I didn’t receive it until February! So, as I did with the first problem, I had the magazine diverted to my P.O. Box address and things were hunky-dory after that.

The third difficulty I encountered was waiting for a special-order double CD set of music by Mickey Katz from England that never arrived. I must have emailed the company at least 20 times until we got the situation straightened out! The company required a street address as opposed to a P.O. Box address, but lo and behold, the company at last agreed to send the CD to my P.O. Box express and I received it within a week!

When I confronted the landlady about the mail problem, she at first pretended like it was no big deal, but when I asked for my own mailbox, she told me I couldn’t have one. When I countered her and asked why, she said, “because your apartment is illegal, that’s why.”

I knew right then and there I had to get out for certain...