It is difficult to find anything “sacred” anymore. So many among us are so devoted to violating one element of trust after another that we almost need scorecards to keep track of what still might happen next.

It was not a new occurrence, of course, but we were reminded recently that the U.S. mail, which once seemed so safe and secure, is just as ripe a target as automobiles, yard decorations and electronic gear left unattended for even a minute or two.

Few, indeed, are the residents who still have mail delivered to their doors. Banks of locked mailboxes are the norm in apartment complexes and most new residential areas. They may not be attractive, but they are necessary to prevent increased thefts from mailboxes.

It once was a cardinal sin, even among crooks, to fool around with the U.S. mail. Obviously that’s a laughing point with them now.

A group of people in the Brandon Woods residential area had mail taken and rifled for cash, checks and the like, then discarded messily, with a number of holiday cards being damaged or lost. Some person or persons with criminal inclinations decided to take advantage of the “season for giving” to try to fatten their own purses.

Remember when it was safe and easy to put outgoing mail in an outside box to be picked up and sent on its way by a carrier? Time was when postal people warned against putting outgoing mail into boxes overnight, with the “flag” up, because it was so easy to have it stolen under cover of darkness. Now the advice is to use secure mailing sites, such as boxes and store letter drops, because there is new danger even in daylight.

Many can recall times when postal carriers made door-to-door deliveries, with little prospect of intrusions. Those days are certainly fading and so, it appears, are the days of confidence that one can use a home mailbox in the most convenient way.

Our society continues to coarsen and deteriorate, and we are forced to spend too much time trying to deal with crooks, time that could be devoted to so many worthy pursuits.

But Merry Christmas, just the same.