Firstly to start off I would like to say that unlike some tear ar**s I do not tramp across people’s lawns or push through flowerbeds to take short cuts. However my delivery is quite long and does contain a large number of long driveways and there are just a few really useful cut through’s which save on the legs.
One of these was between two properties which have 70 feet open gravel drives. The short cut was where a large conifer hedge ended and a garage began, no more than about 3 feet but enough to walk through without touching anything. I ve been using this shortcut for the past 5 years and the postie before me used it for longer than that without any problems.
On sat morning I cut through and came out upon the owner of the house and the valet who was cleaning his Jaguar. Obviously my sudden arrival took them a little by surprise so I broke into my cheery postie talk and greeted them with “morning gents and a nice one for a change” routine etc. The bloke washing the car seemed pleasant enough and we had a little joke about how it would now rain because he had just washed the car.
The house owner was smiling (sort of) but I could tell he was not happy with the use of the short cut, however he said nothing. I asked if he wanted to take the mail or would prefer me to deliver it through the box, he took it so I wished them farewell.
Today (Mon) whilst loaded with up sky mags I try to use the cut through only to find 4 thick strands of green plastic coated wire blocking the way. Upon inspection I saw that eyelets had been drilled into the garage wall and the wires secured deep into the hedge, ie: a proper job in which i imagine he had run for the drill the moment i was out of sight.
Now I understand that people want to make their property secure and feel safe and I understand that if someone wishes to enforce a boundary then they should and why should we expect any different. But it just seems so petty when both driveways are open anyway. So now I have to walk all the way around (yes I know I should anyway) but it really p****ed me off.
I just feel that some type of people have no concept of how difficult our job can be and its stupid little things like the odd cut through can sometimes help make the day more manageable. Rant over, never mind.