In a message dated 9/30/02 4:19:40 PM Pacific Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes:

. As if that were some terrorist organization, the U.S.
Customs Service, for the first time in my experience, opened the package and
poked its fingers around inside.

A few months ago, we sent my niece in Paris a birthday present. The postal clerk asked me what was inside the package. I said: A doll. He smiled and said: That's nice; I'll give you the book rate.