Saturday, July 30, 2011
How to receive packages in the mail without revealing your identity
There are various ways to do this. Here’s the latest, sent to me by the same young man I mentioned yesterday:
I am moving out into a small country town, away from any large city. Knowing that people are friendlier in small towns, and the effect a small donation of cash money can have, I found my answer for a third ghost address.
There's a small country church maybe a mile from where I am moving to. I stopped by and struck up a conversation with the pastor. I simply talked to him about the town, adjustments I am making from big city life to small town living...made small talk, really. I told him that I may occasionally order a package to be delivered, but I thought the delivery service driver "may get lost on some of these back roads". I asked the pastor if we could work something out for me to order packages and have them sent to the church address instead of mine..."thinking it would be easier to find a church than where I am..."
The pastor laughed out loud, and said several folks in the town have things shipped to the church! Since he's a minister and into helping people, he said he saw no problem with it, and I offered a few bucks if this could be an on-going thing. Again, he was very agreeable, and my small donation to the church no doubt helped his good cheer. He made it crystal clear my package would be safe and sound until I can come pick it up. The church secretary is his wife and they are the sweetest elderly couple you've ever met.
The pastor has a name for me. It's the name I use when ordering something, but not my true name.
Best part is, I showed no ID, no paperwork and have a place for my rare package to be sent...a mile from where I live. It's a church...who's going to think about seeing what's in a small, unmarked box being shipped to a church? No more than I order, I don't see a downside here. Who says there aren't some perks to living in a small town?
—Keith, 26
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Thanks for that very helpful idea!
ReplyDeleteWere you asked what area you're moving to?
"So where you gonna stay? Towards FM 88 or towards the lake?"
People in small towns know everybody and everybody's business, and they'll want to keep up on the latest news. I guess my preferred response would be, "I don't know yet, just looking at several places."
I often make reservations at a hotel for a specific date near where I live (sometimes under a fictious name), have a package sent express there, show up early on the day of check in and get my pactage, then cancel my fictious reservation.
ReplyDeleteYes, people in small towns are related to everyone else it seems, lol! It's sort of disconcerting at times to see how many people know everyone else around. Around here I would definitely tell them that I haven't settled on where I was going to live, especially a minister as they are sure to know many people as well. Great tip for a ghost address, as I may have to be changing mine in a year or two. Just a thought, but if you could get your drivers license sent there, you could then rent out a PO box and have the church address listed as your 'home' address. They are planning on closing down some post offices around here in the country, just a heads up in case some of you have PO boxes.
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