Contents May Crow During Shipping

I was waiting in line at the post office the other day and the sound of a rooster crowing rang through the building. I looked around at the other patrons in line. They didn't seem to register this as anything unusual. I try to stay out of lines in general, and I don't hang out in the post office if I can help it, so maybe this is a more common thing than I thought.

When I got to the head of the line I asked for my book of stamps and then asked about the chicken. "I have to ask," I said, "why is there a chicken here?" I thought maybe somebody who worked there had a pet chicken that was sick and couldn't find a chicken-sitter, or something, the way people will occasionally bring their post-op dogs to work or whatever. And this is not so far-fetched: A number of factors combined in such a way that I had a chicken as a pet myself, back in the day. You can see him at the right. A handsome animal, wasn't he?

Anyway, the woman at the counter didn't have much to say. It seems people mail chickens. That was a new idea to me. It wouldn't have occurred to me to mail a chicken, but the next time I want to move a chicken from point A to point B I'll keep that option in mind.

"I can tell you one thing," I said to the woman, "I had one as a pet myself once, which was unusual for a suburban kid, and I found out they don't just crow in the morning." The chicken crowed lustily, as if agreeing. "He must think it's morning now," the counter lady said, but without any real interest. I would have asked her more about what kinds of animals get mailed, and how often. Can you mail a goose? A turkey? A cow? But people don't want you to dawdle and hold them up.

I stepped away, and looked at the other people in the room with me. Bored, listless. They weren't a bit delighted that a chicken was crowing at the post office. I felt sorry for them. Absurd little moments like that are something the universe furnishes richly forth, and you might as well learn to appreciate them, right?