Sellotape and String by Storm M Grayson
Today I was reminded of my time at boarding school when my mother sent me parcels. I received a delivery from FedEx of my three-monthly vitamin tablets sent from Canada, which I may say arrive withing 3 days of being sent. It is nearly five thousand miles whereas a simple package sent within the UK can sometimes take weeks to arrive.
The tablets arrive in a plastic tub inside a small cardboard box and then enveloped in a seriously strong wrapping. This is then secured with probably a whole reel of Sellotape. Sharp scissors are the only possible way of extracting the tub.
Don’t get me wrong I am all for safe delivery of my treasured vitamins.
I spent four happy years at boarding school and always have my memories of the parcels my mother would send. I can’t quite remember what was inside these deliveries but what I do remember is the wrapping. The items inside where individually wrapped and then packed inside a box with newspaper, even though I am sure there was nothing breakable. Around the box was brown paper, not the flimsy see through stuff you get today, but the kind that would stand up on its own if you let it! This was usually double layer, then the Sellotape and plenty of it, round and round and round it went covering the whole parcel. This was not enough for my mother, she then had to use a whole roll of string, (string has always been a thing with my mother, she was never without it!).
It became a regular amusement with my school friends, and they would gather round to watch me struggle and to find out if there was anything interesting inside. It probably contained yet another jumper knitted by my grand mother or another pair of jodhpurs.