amelia, queen of tact.

i just returned from the post office, where i created a minor civic crisis. this is how it went down: i approached the little window and requested twenty stamps. he reached for the flaggy flaggy ones. i said, "actually, can i have the ones with snowy egrets..."

he looked confused, or dissatisfied, or something. i decided to be helpful.

"...or whatever you have that doesn't have flags all over it?"

the four nearest pairs of eyes swiveled my way. the formerly neutral-looking guy-in-the-window eyed me as if i had requested a few ounces of powdered anthrax to go with my osama bin laden/saddam hussein commemorative "love" stamps.

however: i got the egret stamps, and they're totally worth it.