Blonde Monde

I was finishing my morning chai when a large manila envelope landed on my desk at work.  I tossed it aside to join the growing mound of invoices and mail already camouflaging my desk top. I carried on with my email and mindless banter with Blondie, when my attention slowly diverted back to the envelope.  I picked it up and took a better look.  It  said “Private + Confidential.” There was nothing professional about the hand-scrawled messaging all over the envelope, though.  I particularly appreciated the ominous admonishments written across the bottom and back of the envelope:

DO NOT FOLD!!!!!!!!!!!! Um, ok.

DO NOT BEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Alright, already. I get it.
I held it up and waved it around for Blondie to see across the office, and said, “Hey, look at this. It’s weird, maybe from a student?” It’s always shocking to see anything hand-written anymore. I opened it up, waiting to find some kind of thank you letter from a school we work with, or a young donor possibly. Sidenote here: I work in public relations for a non-profit organization. Which means sometimes I’m on TV, and sometimes I’m in the newspaper as a spokesperson. This is important in understanding what was inside the envelope.

I open it. And this is what I find:

A hand-sketched drawing. Of ME. Um, yes. Note the artist’s (and I use the term loosely here) signature in the right hand corner. In case you can’t see it, here it is again:

My “Secret Admirer” (no, there was no return address on the envelope) had apparently  seen an article in the newspaper on a story related to the organization I work for, which also ran a picture of me with it.  The organization I work for helps people in need at Christmas time, and we collect toys to distribute free-of-charge for less fortunate families. We were very low on toys this year, so we sent out an appeal for increased support. A reporter wrote a story on this, and took a picture of me, with our empty toy shelves. This sketch here is essentially a sketched carbon copy of the one that ran.

So, my first piece of semi-stalker secret admirer mail. There was no message or letter accompanying the drawing, just this. The fact that it appears to be from someone quite young makes this a bit less distressing for me, yes, but nonetheless, no less disturbing! I wonder if this person has a bulletin board in their room covered in clipped newspaper images of me, like all the criminals in CSI?!! ICK!!! Ok, maybe not, but still……

-CJ.

What would you do if this happened to YOU?