The Pitfalls of Sending TTM Requests

 Over the weekend, I had an unusual circumstance happen to me when I pulled an envelope I could clearly tell was a returned TTM request out of the mailbox. Even though it sounds corny, every time I open my mailbox and see my writing on an envelope, I feel a twinge of excitement. I know that means it is a through the mail request being returned. In this case however, I noticed right away that something was off as the envelope was way too light. When I got back to the house I noticed that the side of the envelope had purposefully been slit open, and the signed card that was coming back was gone. However, the note I wrote to the athlete, in this case NFL Hall of Famer Jack Youngblood, was still inside and he had signed my note and thanked me for writing. So that means I know he saw it, signed the card, and dropped it back in the mail.  However, sometime between that happening and it arriving in my mailbox, someone had taken the time to notice something might be in the envelope, opened it, removed the card, and then still let it be delivered!

This had to have been done by someone that works for USPS at some point during the process of it being returned. You can clearly tell a tool was used to insert into the side of the envelope and then slit it open. When these envelopes split on the side, it doesn't have the jagged edge. 

Going forward, I'm going to start taping the edges of my return envelopes, as I already do with the initial email I send out that has the athlete's address. This makes me nervous as I do have a few relatively high priced signings coming back in this fashion, and I hope that there isn't someone at the local post office doing this. If it continues to happen, a report will be filed with USPS.