DEAR ABBY: I'm in my mid-20s and haven't lived in my mother's home in more than four years. However, mail still occasionally comes for me at her address. Whenever it happens, my mother opens it.
Typically, she goes through the song and dance of telling me I've received mail, asking if I want her to open it (no, thank you), then saying she'll set it aside. Yet, by the time it reaches me, it has been opened.
When I try to talk to her about it, she claims that because she lives alone she's not in the habit of looking at the name on the front of the envelopes. If this had happened only once or twice, I'd believe it was an honest mistake. But it is every envelope, every time. What can I do? I don't think this is something I should have to grin and bear. -- FRUSTRATED BUFFALO GIRL
DEAR FRUSTRATED: Mail is considered to be private property. When another party breaches that privacy, that person may be guilty of mail tampering, which is a crime. You should have explained that fact to your mother when you first realized that what she was doing wasn't an accident.
Because this annoys you so much that you have written to me about it, and if you haven't already done so, register your change of address with the post office so your mail can be delivered properly, and contact those who may not know that you have moved, so this won't keep happening.