I had just read your post when my wife came home. She's works for the USPO and handles complaints. She told me about a guy who called her asking about a tongue ring his buddy(?) had sent him. The "regular" envelope just had a small tear in the end but no ring. Wife told him about the rollers in the canceling machines and that when they push the mail through the stamps are lucky to survive. When she asked why they hadn't used a padded envelope he said, "I dunno."