on the joy of receiving packages

I have a new theory. I wonder if the popularity of Amazon stems at least in part from the fact that people love getting packages in the mail. I know I do, anyway. It's 8:30 am and the doorbell just rant: I looked out the window and got totally excited to see the UPS man driving away. Woooo! A package! From me, to myself! Which means it's going to be good!

A wrapped item, for some reason, is much, much better than an item you pluck off the shelf, pay for, and take home. I'm not sure why. Even when I've made the order myself and was fully expecting the package's arrival, the elements of anticipation and surprise are still there. Maybe even more so, because I know I'm going to like it when I open it. Because we all know the disappointment of getting a package in the mail and then discovering it's just some hand-me-downs from Aunt Jane who was cleaning out her garage and felt guilty throwing out that hideous brooch she received way back when. What you want is the joy of unwrapping a real, bona-fide present. When you order it yourself, you get the best of all worlds: the pleasure of having something you wanted, the joy of anticipating its arrival, and the excitement of seeing the unopened package when it finally gets there.

I love getting packages in the mail so much that I'm inclined to order stuff just for the pleasure of receiving and opening it. That is why Amazon.com is my friend. I like ordering stuff from Amazon so much that I'll even go down to Borders, pick myself out a book, and then go home and order it from Amazon, where it's cheaper and you don't get charged sales tax anyway. Then you get to look forward to it for a few days before it arrives. Of course, in order to abet my secret hobby I enrolled myself in "Amazon Prime," which is Amazon's pre-pay system for shipping and mailing you stuff. You pay some outrageous up-front fee that covers all your mailing fees at the expedited service rate for a year, which of course encourages you to hit that "buy it now!" button way too often when you browse the store. Why not, you tell yourself? The shipping's already paid for!

But I've never regretted my Amazon Prime. Not even when I got trigger-finger and bought stuff I wasn't actually there looking for. When that happens and the stuff arrives, it's just even more like Christmas than before.