posted on May 11, 2001 02:30:33 PM
I got a payment today where it was returned to the sender because they only put easter seals where the stamp should be. Inside was not only the payment, but a sticker of a photo of a condom that says "JUST USE IT", a free childs admission coupon with adult purchased ticket that expired in 1988 good only in the city where this person lives, and two Hell Notes (for those who don't know what they are, they are 'currency' that Buddists burn for their deceased so that they will have money in the afterlife. It says on them 'hell bank note')
I am ready to get a post office box after this payment. FREAKY!
Thankfully this person lives on the other side of the country, but its still disconcerting.
posted on May 11, 2001 02:37:15 PM
I got an envelope with only an Easter Seal on it once also. It was my first (and only) trade for grocery store coupons with a lady several states away. I contacted her to let her know that I never got her end of our trade and she said she would send out a replacement envelope of coupons. When this second envelope arrived it only had an Easter Seal on it. No wonder the first one was lost if she did the same thing to it.
Some people just don't realize that the Easter Seals are not real postage. They figure if it looks like a postage stamp, it must be one. Like the Easter Seals people have tons of money to just send out sheets and sheets of free postage to people. I cringe when I think of the envelopes that must be floating around out there with Publisher's Clearing House magazine stamps on them! LOL!
PS--Maybe you can sell the Hell Notes on Ebay? There are quite a few auctions going right now. I know nothing about them (being Christian) but some of them get decent bids on Ebay according to the search I just did.
[ edited by squinkle99 on May 11, 2001 02:40 PM ]
posted on May 11, 2001 04:13:54 PM
I sell a lot of Christian items, and I'm not going to list a hell note in the middle of Billy Graham, Bill Gaither, Vineyard CDs and toys! :-P
I do use my selling account to occasionally sell things that I don't want to offend people with -- like the improve your sex life, etc.
I'm a Christian (the only reason I know about the Hell notes is because I spent a summer in Asia teaching English as a second language.) and I just want those things out of the house! Ai Ai Aye!
posted on May 11, 2001 05:46:17 PM
Jenndiggy -
Buddhists do NOT burn fake currency so the deceased will have money in the "afterlife" ... for one, reincarnation means the money will not get there because there is no 'afterlife' for the deceased to spend it in.
It's probably a Chinese Confucian tradition, to be burned (along with paper houses, food, etc.) at the funeral or memorial services. As such, it might be salable. If it says "Hell bank note" in English, it's probably sold for a souvenier to tourists.
posted on May 11, 2001 08:18:46 PM
All I really know about the hell note is I saw a lot of Chinese burning them, esp. during Ghost Week. (Better not ask for my version of that or I'd probably get it all confused as well!)
There were whole stores where I was living (not a tourist area) where you could buy 'burnable' things for your ancestors.
The hell notes in the denomiation I was sent only sold for 10¢ on ebay, so not worth it to list!
