My husband received something very strange in the post ...

[OnSilverStars]

In the post today, my husband received a letter. It was hand written with his name and address on the outside. No return info. The writing in the envelope is definitely a woman's

Inside is a copy of an "essay" I googled it and it's by Robert Louise Stevenson. It called "on Marriage"

The gist of it is that marriage has lots of ups and downs and requires communication

There is nothing else. No name, just a folded print out of this essay.

Any explanation, other than my fear? I have no reason other than this to suspect anything.

YABU - don't jump to conclusions

YANBU - he's cheated.

I'm shaking. This feels so surreal. I hope I'm overreacting. He's currently at work.

Ps. We open each other's post. We think nothing of it - usually. It's always junk or bills

Amazing. Amazing. This has made my day.

Just as an aside I open all post coming to the house because everyone in it expects me to open and deal with anything, it's got absolutely nothing to do with trust and they leave it for me to do if I'm out! I've only read first few replies but JW seems to be a theme. Sorry if the thread has progressed from there now.

@OnSilverStars

OMG. IT WAS FOR AN EYE TEST FROM WORK 😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆

Hahahahahahaa

No way is this JW - they always tell you who they are,

This is true. Most religious groups want you to join them so want you to be able to contact them and they don’t make the person surely.

It does seem quite religiousy I would believe it if it turned out to be a religious aunt or grandparent like a PPs.

I don’t think it was a random act.

Can't wait for another day of whether it was or wasn't JW OP

OMG. IT WAS FOR AN EYE TEST FROM WORK

His work sent him an eye test in the post? With no letter alongside it explaining it?
Did the text get gradually bigger/smaller like normal eye tests? It was hard to see in the photo.

@user1471565182

Its not weird, apparantly thats their MO. They send them all over the country from a centralised office often using publicly available addresses

Hand addressed to a specific person?

*Bluesheep8

Ps. We open each other's post. We think nothing of it - usually. It's always junk or bills

I'd be furious if DP opened my post as a matter of course. As would he if I opened his. Why are you opening each others post in the first place? Isn't it illegal to open someone else's post?

You are exactly the sort of person I am thankful I don't have in my life. Frothing your self righteous poison for people who don't behave in exactly the same way as you do*

Wow. Where is the frothing self righteous poison in expressing a different opinion?

yes a lot of accounts of it say handwritten. Must be a lot of 70/80/90 year olds in the Jehovahs Ws for who thats standard

OP There is an AWFUL lot on the internet about RLS's writings.

As I said, the quotes are NOT about marriage; they are about youthful hope vs adult experience.
And their tone is playfully IRONIC. They're not meant to be instruction manuals.
If you want to read RLS's original text, start here (as I said a couple of pages ago):
robert-louis-stevenson.org/works/virginibus-puerisque-1881/ look at essay no. 2 (ii)
There is also a helpful summary of each essay.

For a brief context and commentary, you could look here: people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/stevensonbio.html

interesting essay here:

www.mcstorytellers.com/ee-robert-louis-stevenson.html

If you'd like more, please just say.

Ah my money was on it being the wrong thing put in the envelope by mistake! Glad the mystery has been solved....and once and for all people will stop saying it was a JW behind it! I am a JW, you may think us odd, but we’re not at the sending out random photocopies level of odd.

Does it really matter if they open each other’s post?? They are a couple what works for them may not be what you do but it’s not hurting anyone. Over reactions a little!!

Best update ever!! Love this!!

The eye test thing is about as baffling as the other explanations!

😂🤣😂🤣😂

omg! hilarious op.

This thread has been an intriguing read! But the issue people have with couples opening each other's mail, that is odd too, for me. DH would never bother to open a single piece of mail in our house, that's my job. If I was to say here's something for you, he would say well what is it then? (If someone is having an affair it is hardly likely to show up in the snail mail anyway, is it?)

I've been following this with interest and the eye test thing has cracked me up. Are you going to tell him you thought it was a cryptic clue to a sordid affair?!

Maybe this is a better eye test than driving to Barnard Castle....

I've already come clean. He laughed. I feel like such a dick. We both are well versed in RLS now 😂😂😂

@OnSilverStars

I've already come clean. He laughed. I feel like such a dick. We both are well versed in RLS now 😂😂😂

Hahahahaha this is one of my favourite thread resolutions ever!

@WingingItSince1973

Jehovahs Witness here! Whatever you think of us we are writing letters just to encourage people nothing sinister. I very much doubt the letter is from a JW as it would have been written by someone in the local congregation. Plus we wouldn't write something so random and so anonymous. Hope you get to the bottom of it xx

just to encourage people

To do what exactly?

I respect others peoples right to believe whatever nonsense they want to - why can't I be afforded the same respect?

Religious letter sending & door knocking are intrusive & it should be against the law.

@theDudesmummy yeah me and DP are the same I don’t see it as an issue I didn’t think people would

Am delighted that there's a simple explanation.

I did say that the extracts looked something like a test - not for an opticians, I grant you. That's a new one. I was thinking more along the lines of a translation exercise.
But I also did flag up the 'strange ' numbers at the start of each para. An optician's grading test would of course have explained them. Sorry if that seems boastful. It's not meant to be. It's just that so few posteres seemed to have bothered to look at the original text and use that as a baisis for their deductions.

RLS really is worth reading, so I hope my previous message won't have been in vain. Treasure Island, Jekyll and Hyde, Kidnapped, Travels With A Donkey, the essays we've been discussing etc etc ... Really, what's not to like?
For my money, he's got as good a grasp of the traditional Scottish cultural/psychological mindset as anyone.

This thread has made my day.