Marcus Richardson
When I was in sophomore in college, my friends and I were discussing one day what we wanted to do when we graduated. Several of them had switched majors (like me) and it was a fun and easy way to pass the time over lunch one rainy spring afternoon. I mentioned that I switched majors from Physics to Criminal Justice (that's another story) and planned to become an FBI agent.
A month or two later I arrived at my dorm to find a rather large envelope waiting for me--the kind of big padded envelope that could have held an X-Ray slide. Since I hadn't ordered anything (certainly nothing that big), I was rather confused. When I checked the return address and saw it came from the Hoover Building, Washington, D.C. and had been postmarked in Washington, D.C., I was more than surprised--it was legit. I ran to my room on the third floor and tore the envelope open. I expected to see some kind of paperwork or letter or something from the FBI thanking me for my interest in becoming an agent...
Then I realized I'd never actually contacted the FBI. Outside of my parents, and that one time at lunch where I said I wanted to be a Special Agent (months previous), I hadn't even mentioned the FBI to anyone outside of watching TV or discussing a case in class.
I reached inside, not sure what to find. What I pulled out was even more surprising--the package turned out to be a folded up life-size target silhouette from (I'm assuming) the firing range at the FBI headquarters. There were no markings on it, no letter, no nothing, other than a little stamp that indicated the type of target and the copyright date of printing. I held it up to the light and noticed several little holes, mostly in the center, with one in the middle of the shadow target's forehead.
Rather than be freaked out about it--in today's climate, receiving something like that in the mail unsolicited would probably trigger an investigation into domestic terrorism--I took pride in my...whatever it was. I hung the target silhouette on my wall and told all my friends that someone at the FBI must be watching me.
Or sending me a message. Either way, I never found out why they sent it, even after calling. It's not exactly something you can just order online. Whatever the reason I received that target silhouette, I kept it for years until it finally fell apart some time in my third year at law school. I never received another one, but it sure made for some interesting conversations!
A month or two later I arrived at my dorm to find a rather large envelope waiting for me--the kind of big padded envelope that could have held an X-Ray slide. Since I hadn't ordered anything (certainly nothing that big), I was rather confused. When I checked the return address and saw it came from the Hoover Building, Washington, D.C. and had been postmarked in Washington, D.C., I was more than surprised--it was legit. I ran to my room on the third floor and tore the envelope open. I expected to see some kind of paperwork or letter or something from the FBI thanking me for my interest in becoming an agent...
Then I realized I'd never actually contacted the FBI. Outside of my parents, and that one time at lunch where I said I wanted to be a Special Agent (months previous), I hadn't even mentioned the FBI to anyone outside of watching TV or discussing a case in class.
I reached inside, not sure what to find. What I pulled out was even more surprising--the package turned out to be a folded up life-size target silhouette from (I'm assuming) the firing range at the FBI headquarters. There were no markings on it, no letter, no nothing, other than a little stamp that indicated the type of target and the copyright date of printing. I held it up to the light and noticed several little holes, mostly in the center, with one in the middle of the shadow target's forehead.
Rather than be freaked out about it--in today's climate, receiving something like that in the mail unsolicited would probably trigger an investigation into domestic terrorism--I took pride in my...whatever it was. I hung the target silhouette on my wall and told all my friends that someone at the FBI must be watching me.
Or sending me a message. Either way, I never found out why they sent it, even after calling. It's not exactly something you can just order online. Whatever the reason I received that target silhouette, I kept it for years until it finally fell apart some time in my third year at law school. I never received another one, but it sure made for some interesting conversations!
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