"sf" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:49:15 +0100, "Giusi"
wrote:

And some of them work for the postal services. My Christmas and birthday
gifts get opened and rifled. I get what they didn't want, or often I get
nothing. If I ever receive a package whole, they require that I pay
customs
on it, even though the law says I can receive a certain amount of gifts
from
family and friends. Last Christmas I refused my gifts because they wanted
80 euro in fees for the two packages of odds and ends. Some things in the
packages from my friend who loves charity shops were used!

I heard a story about wine being shipped in the US via UPS or one of
those other non US postal companies. Apparently someone didn't
approve of this. The box was opened, bottles emptied and the package
was resealed. Fortunately, they picked the package up at the office
and noticed how light it was. The supervisor had a suspect in mind
immediately. I guess there had been problems before.

A few years ago, a friend in Scotland sent smoked salmon to a few of us. One
out of four received it. The gentleman in Tuscany where we stayed will no
longer try to send his olive oil in the mail. It rarely is ever received.

Many years ago I worked in a grocery store while in high school. The owner
bought Polish canned hams packed 6 cans to a wood crate. It was not
uncommon to get five cans of ham and a rock.