I chose to disintermediate the submit proof button for Mail Something Amazing.
Target: The Fiend
Weapon: Octopus snacks
When: November 12, 2007
Where: Korea to Australia
Why: I chose to mail something amazing to my friend "the fiend" because we rarely talk (in fact, really only exchange information via blog) and I have only met him in person once but he was one of the first people to pipe up about sending me a care package. I will undoubtedly be sending gifts to friends and family that I regularly interact with and I wanted this to be something of a surprise.
However, there is a kink in sending something to someone in Oz. I currently reside in South Korea and he in Australia. The Mail Something Amazing task requires the us of the US Postal Service. It is both wasteful and expensive to send the the package to the US and then have it sent back to Asia for this but I am loathe to change the planned recipient so I am attempting a work-around. I have decided that if I can convince the USPS to sanction my decision to send the package directly rather than route it via the US that would count as using the United States Postal Service. After all, to use is also to take advantage of something for ones own purposes and in requesting that a member of the USPS dedicate time and resources to my inquiry I will have used them. A copy of the email was sent with my personal email address (as opposed to the sf0 one). If I do not hear back in a week then I will attempt to contact them via phone.

Here is the text of the email I sent via their website (uploaded screenshot below):

Dear United States Postal Service,

I have a general inquiry about postage and I hope that you will be kind enough to answer my question. I currently reside in Seoul, South Korea and intend to mail a package to an associate in Australia. I am bound by certain parameters to us the United States Postal Service to accomplish this goal. Because it is highly inconvenient and more expensive to send the package to the United States and then have it shipped to Australia, I would like you to grant me permission to send the package directly and avoid using your services altogether.

Please let me know if you approve of the transaction suggested.

Sincerely,
F. Worth

PS, I am a huge fan of your 'media rate' mail and make use of your many well-priced and lovely services whenever I am in the area.

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Dear FLIT WORTH,

Thank you for contacting us about assistance in regards to mailing a parcel from South Korea to Australia.

I apologize that we do not have information regarding items that are being sent from other countries. Please consult with your local Post Office in South Korea for further assistance.

If I can be of assistance to you in the future, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for choosing the United States Postal Service®.

Regards,

Jenifer K
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Dear Jenifer K of the United States Postal Service,

Thank you for your quick response. My only request is that I receive the blessing of an employee of the United States Postal Service to send the aforementioned package. I require no information regarding posting packages from or to South Korea and/or Australia. I realize that the request is an odd one but, as I mentioned, I am bound by certain rules within my organization to confirm that, generally, you have no objection to my sending a package (the package will contain a Japanese octopus snack food and other sundries of the East, all of a legal nature).

Thank you, again, for your time and cooperation in this matter.
Sincerely,

F. Worth
U.S. Citizen since 1979
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Dear FLIT WORTH,

Thank you for your reply.

I apologize that I do not understand what you are asking. We have no say regarding packages when packages are being shipped from and to other countries that of which are neither the United States. Please consult your local Post Service in South Korea for further assistance.

If I can be of assistance to you in the future, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for choosing the United States Postal Service®.

Regards,

Jenifer K
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Clearly, I need to take a new tack. I still don't have a box to post the amazing item in so this means I have time to contact the post office via phone and try to record their approval. I could also make use of packaging supplies provided by the PO or have the recipient document his response and send it to the US. This last part, in fact, would allow me to complete another task I saw (thought it might not be extant) that had you provide proof of completion to another player. O-ho!
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So, now I am going to attempt to argue that if I link this task with the "Disintermediate the Submit Proof Button" then I have, in fact, completed both tasks because in order to complete this task a receipt for the package must go to the United States, thereby using the USPS as required while simultaneously engaging a player I have never met: The Bandit.
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December 2nd, 2007
The Bandit has received my proof! Pictures by The Bandit himself posted below. The most amusing part of this is that I also had the recipient of the package send a letter I included as proof (I included money for postage in yen to go along with the amazing things I purchased for him in Japan) that he received his box and that letter still does not appear to have arrived. I spent a month in Australia and I am of the belief that it is because their postal system is as lackadaisical as the majority of their citizens. No worries.:)
The question remains: do most players agree that I have completed Mail Something Amazing according to my argument or shall I be flagged for not using the USPS to get the package from Korea to Australia. I accept my fate either way.
The other question is how did this task particularly fill the trajectory of desire of my group. I believe that there are two reasons humanitarian crises exist and/or are perpetuated. First, because of the absence of awareness. We cannot help those that we know nothing about. Through this completion both The Bandit and the fiend know a little bit more about Asian culture (like that South Koreans love sparkly paper!) and the existence of each other.
Second, because of an absence of understanding. There is a saying that 'you cannot see the river of mourning because it lacks one tear of your own'. Humanitarian crises continue because even when we are aware of them they are not always personal and we divest ourselves of feeling responsibility. Humanization and personalization encourage engagement. I am now more three dimensional to both the fiend and The Bandit through musical and written communication.