You've Got Mail

It's always lovely when work and life achieve a kind of synchronicity.  Though I currently have student loans arranged, a flat rented, tuition paid, and a plane flight to the UK, I don't actually have permission for any of these things yet.  That permission, in the form of a student visa, is still not in hand thanks to a pending bit of paperwork from my online savings account.  "It's coming as fast as the mail will deliver it," I was assured by a friendly customer service rep.  It wasn't until I hung up that I noticed the company's main office address . . . in an isolated part of the American West.  I wasn't going to be seeing that letterhead anytime soon.

Meanwhile, it's distribution time for college textbooks, and success is similarly tied up with the mail.  Even after haggling mercilessly to get the earliest possible delivery date, our professors -- and therefore my editorial colleagues in the field -- are starting to look anxiously at their calendars and demand to know exactly when they'll get their books.  We take on-time delivery very seriously, so the office has become a flurry of FedEx tracking numbers and bookstore purchase orders.  When it comes down to it, these few weeks of fulfillment are even more important than the several weeks we spent fitting words on the page.  A professor's entire course depends on our performance.  The biggest difficulty is that all of the action is taking place miles outside the office, so once the printer is let fly there is very little we can change or control.

It's difficult to trust that, just like the books you've created on are on their way to the bookstore, that little piece of paper for the British government is also on its way.  Without knowing the exact location, it's easy to stress.  I'm happy to report that, after several trips back and forth to my mailbox, I got my letter today, and my application was dispatched soon after.  Now comes the next long wait, while the border office makes their official decision.

If nothing less, this whole experience has taught me sympathy for those anxious professors.  It's not easy to leave important matters prey to the contents of your mailbox.