Envelopes opened up when they arrive? Here comes another long, boring post from Clucky.
My grandfather was a United States Postal Service worker for over 40 years. =) He liked his job, and was a wonderful man (he is now deceased). He was an excellent husband, father and friend. I don't think anyone would ever have an unkind word to say about him ever. He certainly wasn't mischievous or underhanded..he was the opposite of those things.
That being said, I just wanted to let people know that if you're receiving opened mail, don't always blame the messenger. After being in the USPS for so many years, he saw it all. One thing is absolutely certain, if the weather is ugly and freezing, some envelopes
will indeed pop open at random. This happens especially when the air is dry and the temperature is below 20 degrees (12 degrees below zero). It doesn't matter if the envelopes are in a truck because there are a lot (not all) of postal trucks in operation still today that do not have heating elements in them. They are metal and cold on the inside. The seal freezes and simply "pops" open with very little handling.
Sometimes all it takes is shifting against the other envelopes in the truck or mailbag.
He saw money orders, checks, cash, bookmarks, confetti, and all sorts of other 'thin' material in USPS vehicles and mailbags all the time. Postal workers would have to sort through the mail and try to match the material with an envelope, put it all back in, and even then they weren't allowed to deliver it until they'd taken it all the way back to the post office to get clearance to do so from the postmaster, who had to get clearance from a higher up before sending the postman back to deliver it...since they'd "fiddled" with the mail.
When folks think of freezing temperatures they usually think of the minus digits, but remember freezing is 32 degrees
above zero. My grandpa said that most incidents occurred when it was below 20 though (he didn't know why, it was just an observation).
The best way to seal your envelopes for the winter season is a glue stick followed by a large sticker in the middle of the flap on the outside. Wax seal is another option but only if you use it along with the gluestick really, because as Grandpa said - "wax freezes up and chips". If you lick-n-stick or wet sponge an envelope sealed...
most of them do stay sealed, but random popping open occurs *constantly* in the mail, more than you know.

It's not always a nosy USPS worker. Sometimes it happens in average weather simply because there's not enough saliva on the envelope, or it's a cheap envelope to begin with.
And yes,
I have his name for verification purposes if anyone wants to PM me for it. lol I just felt led to share that, because I see a lot of blame being placed on the USPS regarding opened envelopes...and it bothers me a little.
YES it happens (some postal workers are dishonest, as is the case with any group of people and it's very sad and frustrating)...but it's not always the reason behind opened envelopes. I choose to believe "innocent" for the USPS worker unless he or she is proven to be unscrupulous. That's all.
Even if they're torn open rather than 'neatly open' that doesn't mean the USPS worker is guilty. It's a trust issue in my opinion...people simply don't trust anybody anymore because of the way society has changed...granted. But...one letter gets stuck to some random piece of packing tape and rips open a bit. All of a sudden the recipient is upset because the USPS opened their mail, when that is not what occurred.
glue sticks and stickers