What do these things have in common?

Just add a 4-pack of replacement Venus razor heads (and note that my bottle of Benadryl was the non-drowsy Cold & Flu remedy -preferable for asthmatics- and that the BBQ sauce was President's Choice) and you would be looking at the list of things missing from the boxes of personal items I FedExed myself from Canada. And no, razors and medicine (not to mention Lululemon yoga tank tops and Supersoft slippers)are NOT among the items not allowed into Iraq (or Kurdistan) by customs! I checked... and the FedEx customer service in Canada and the US checked. Nothing was confiscated by customs anywhere. (I mean, come on... how could a pair of slippers be against customs regulations anywhere?) My customs bill came to $20.00 US and included no customs charges, but rather a fee for receiving, checking and stamping the forms on my boxes. The missing items? Your guess is as good as mine...

Although I do realize my losses weren't that great, and that I will likely never see these things again, I still feel the need to complain. I am sure that in my posts I have made the point that people you meet in the streets here are very honest. If you forget your purse in a taxi or drop something valuable in the street, it is likely to be returned to you; unlike in large Western cities like London where your mobile phone can be snatched from you as you open it to receive a text message (this really happened to me). However, it then seems contrary that shipping/courier company employees here would think that taking what they please from boxes they are inspecting could be a "perk" of the job. I resent having to pay a fee of $20.00 to a person for the task of sifting through my things for something that catches their fancy.

PS. If you are reading this, shady FedEx/Falcon Express box-checking employee in Erbil, you missed something! The ultra-rich body lotion from L'Occitane that you left in the box is WAY better (and more expensive) then the Aveeno dry skin anti-itch lotion that you took! The Aveda Shampoo & conditioner; however, good choice!