Israeli Post Office isn't so much about mail

Since we've been here, for over a month, and we have been told we will receive our cards in the mail, we have not received one piece of mail.  Not even junk mail.  The concept of:  "Neither rain nor snow nor heat..." has quite reached the mail delivery people here.  The deliver system is more "whenever" than daily.

David sold a couple of books through e-bay and took them to the post office to be shipped.  He bought the mailers and filled out the address remembering to put the return address on the back, which is how they do it here and in Europe.  If you forget and put your return address in the front, there is a strong possibility your mail will be sent right back to you.  You paid postage for nothing.

When David went to buy the postage, the clerk needed to see what was inside the package he was mailing and his ID.  At first he didn't understand, but later realized, for security purposes they want to know who is sending what and will open all packages.  The idea is to prevent bombs from being mailed, but if one does get past security, they will know who the culprit is.

When/if we ever find a permanent apartment, we will need to register at the post office with our new address.  Makes sense.  If you want to change health insurance, you also do that at the post office.

We were talking to a man who speaks English fairly well.  Somehow the conversation turned into terrorism.  We were talking about the cursory search before going into a mall.  At least at the Grand Canyon mall, they send you through a metal detector and open your bag.  At the other mall, the security just waves you through.  I mentioned seeing security looking in the trunks of cars before letting them park in the mall underground parking, and suggested a terrorist bringing in bomb could simply hide it under the back seat.  He said  that Arabs aren't the smartest people in the world -- he said it, not me -- and that even cursory security tends to scare them off.

Then the subject turned to the West Bank.  He said Palestinians are happy there now, that it is very nice, they have shopping and cafes and it is no longer a horrible place to live so we don't have to worry about them tunneling under the fence.  The Gaza Strip is another matter.  But then Israel may be getting ready to go in and clean that out.  David asked about bomb shelters.  The man assured us every building has one and that sirens will go off.  He told us during the Lebanon War, and bombs were going off everywhere, he still had to go to work and was driving down the street and taking his chances.

I asked about gas masks.  "Oh, I don't have one, but I got one for each of my kids."  I asked where you could get a mask and he said, "You can go get one at the Post Office."