I sold an item but it got lost in the mail. So I stopped by my local post office and asked them to track it down.

"It's not that simple," the clerk scolded. "You have to fill out a mail-loss form before we can initiate a search."

"Okay," I said. "I'll take one."

He rummaged under his counter, then went to some other clerks who did the same—only to return and confess, "You'll have to come back later. We can't find the forms."