Farewell and Godspeed

I got the packaging for my XBox 360 last night, so after a few final games I packed it up. This morning I shipped it back for repairs. I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that I was dropping it into some kind of bottomless pit from whence it may never return.

For the one or two of you that HAVEN'T had to do this, you get a nice clean white anonymous-looking box. Nowhere on it does it say Microsoft or XBox. I presume the theory is that if the public at large KNEW you were shipping a broken XBox, they would want to steal it.

But when I walked into the UPS office this morning, the clerk took one look at my plain white box and brightly chirped "Shipping your XBox in for repairs?"

Damn it.

I have no doubt that she's seen plenty of anonymous-looking white boxes being shipped to Texas. Probably by irritated folks with dark circles under their eyes who spoke through clenched teeth.