Panda Mandy's Slow Delivery
Yesterday I was reading this at the bus stop while cursing the exasperatingly slow-to-arrive bus, and it got me thinking.
photo credits to channelnewsasia
Panda Mandy's this new innovative mailing concept in China in which you get to choose how slowly you want the other party to receive your mail. Yes, slowly. Slow mail delivery is a bitch to an online shopper like me, and receiving anything up to 3 days late can be such a kill-joy and bummer. And for the Panda Mandy mail delivery service, your mail could reach your recipient only decades later! *collective gasp from shopaholics* Apparently, mail is stored in this safe deposit box until the date you've set for it to be delivered.
Wow, that in a world in which I start ranting and railing 4 seconds into the loading of a webpage on my Firefox. ;p
Using this novel concept, mothers-to-be can actually use this service to write letters to their newborns or unborns, only to have them sent years later when the child is older and able to read. Grandparents can write letters to their grandchildren before they pass on so that 10 years later, they in turn can receive letters from the grave, literally.
One interviewee said that he had written a letter to his newly wed wife to be send 50 years later as a declaration of love. I think that that is the most romantic thing anyone can do really. It is heartfelt in a world of volatile relationships, where promises are made on a breath and broken the next. It reminds me of the sappy P.S. I Love You film starring the absolutely hunky Gerard Butler, in which the dead husband leaves a string of messages for his wife to help her get over his passing. The one time I teared during the film, was when Hilary Swank's character repeatedly dials her husband's voice mail just so that she could hear his voice again. Yes, I do think that once someone is gone, it's the simple stuff in life we take for granted that come back to haunt us, like the familiar voice of that person we love.
So back to Panda Mandy. Heart rending as the concept is, it is indeed ironic to think of how starkly circumstances may have changed when the letter eventually reaches its recipient years later. A promise of everlasting commitment could instead be a aching reminder of a love that had fallen asleep in the snow and gone cold, vows broken and trampled on like hyperinflated bank notes. Or could it be a moment of reconciliation and tears of joy? Who's to say?
It's like a time capsule isn't it? Burying memories and digging them out years later to be overwhelmed by nostalgia.
Which leads me to wonder... Who would I write a message to, if I ever for that matter, used Panda Mandy or any service of its equivalence? Would I have the faith to send it out in 10 years, maybe even 50 years' time to that same person?
And what about you? Who would be that special recipient of your age old letter? :)
Hmmm.
