The Note Was Ready. I Forgot to Keep the Tracking Number.

I wanted to include a short note with something I was sending by post.

So I asked Kimiko-chan for help. Kimiko-chan is the name I gave ChatGPT.

Could it put what I wanted to say into roughly two hundred Japanese characters?

I liked the wording it produced. I decided to print it and enclose it with the items I was sending.

Sometimes I ask for help with an email. This time, the plan involved paper and an enclosure.

The writing part went nicely.

Then I sent the package using Letter Pack Plus, a Japanese postal service.

But there was one thing I had forgotten.

Before posting it, I had forgotten to peel off and keep the tracking-number sticker.

Oh dear.

Kimiko-chan had helped with the note.

I was the one who posted the package.

Getting the words into shape on the screen had been a reassuring piece of teamwork. Beyond that came the work at my end: printing, enclosing and posting.

This time, I had also sent away the number I had meant to keep.

I had thought about what words to include, but forgotten what to leave in my own hands.

Being pleased with the writing and finishing the mailing process were two separate things.

Peeling off the sticker was my job.

Next time, I want to check more than the wording. I want to check what I am holding before I post it too.

I had given the accompanying words proper thought.

The missing line was the one addressed to myself: “Keep the tracking sticker.”