GOING POSTAL… IN A GOOD WAY——— by Steve Nadis
Unlike most people, who have nothing good to say about the Post Office, I had a fine time in the post office earlier today (or yesterday if you want to be a stickler about the 12 p.m. midnight rule). Yes, the line was long, and yes, the price of a stamp has gone up by 2 cents, and yes, we should send our radioactive waste to the postal service and let them “lose” it for us, but I’m not complaining. Quite the contrary. I tried out a new machine–or at least new for me–which I thought would just weigh my oversized envelope. Not only could I weigh it but also buy a stamp for the exact amount, which was charged to my credit card. I stuck the paid postage sticker onto the envelope, deposited it in the convenient drop slot, and was out of there in two minutes, with nothing but positive feelings about my postal experience.
Posted by
at
05:13:38
zardoz says:
CONVENIENT.!
—–ZARDOZ
[Sort of on-topic] I miss handwritten letters. *sigh* Ever since e-mail took over our “written” communication there is no fun in opening the mailbox, no personal stationery with sloppy or neat penmanship sitting inside. Poor postman is the bearer of mail catalogues and bills. No wonder he’s always grumpy.
Great to hear a nice story about the Post Office. My beloved daddy worked there for many years.
You’re Welcome (From My Husband - Postal Tech Support)
MsAmber
Thanks all. Glad I could put in a good word for the poor maligned postal workers. My mailman, by the way, is far from grumpy–he’s one of the warmest, friendliest guys I’ve met.
Plus those new self service machines rarely arm themselves and shoot up the place!
Right Doc. I guess you’d have to consider that another plus.
The postal service really is a fascinating…service. You put your stuff in a box/envelope, write your intended receiving party’s address and your own address in their proper locations, put some stamps on it, and throw it in the mailbox. Within a few days/weeks, it magically finds its way to its destination most of the time. Okay, I probably lost you a while back, but there’s just something about that whole system that just amazes me. I mean, YOU CAN SEND PEOPLE STUFF WITHOUT HAVING TO DELIVER IT YOURSELF! THAT IS SO COOL!
I still want to know why if FedEx and UPS can deliver packages overnight anywhere in the world, it takes the US Post Office 4 days to deliver a package less than 10 miles. Sorry, I have nothing good to say about them when the price keeps going up and the service keeps getting worse.
Hi Roses, you may be right, but service & prices aren’t everything, are they? And TGS, I agree, it is cool, even if half the stuff gets lost. If you ask me, batting .500 ain’t half bad.
OldRoses–the Post Office also has overnight service, for about the same price or even less. The main issues (for me) aren’t about delivery so much as general service. There is always a line at my post office, and no matter how long the line is, the clerks feel free to close down 2 of the 3 windows.
The clerks are also surly and bureaucratic. The other day one of the clerks insisted a woman had to pay 47 cents for an envelope simply because she had weighed it. She only wanted to know how much her book would cost to send, and she had not damaged the envelope in any way. But still, it was now “used” according to the clerk, and she had to pay. And then, with the very next customer, he went on a tirade about how USPS shipping boxes cannot be re-used.
The US postal service is also always delivering mail to the wrong address. When was the last time FedEx delivered a package that didn’t belong to you? But every day, I get someone else’s mail–often for an address that is not even in the same zip code! And don’t even get me started on the number of days where they decide not to deliver the mail at all! (I’m not talking about holidays.)
I know it’s been said before, but if FedEx and UPS allowed their employees to pull off half the crap USPS employees do, they would have been out of business years ago.
[End of rant. And my apologies to MsAmber's husband, who I'm sure is an excellent Postal Tech Support Person.]
Touche’, Gatemouth, once again you’ve scored a few good points. In fact, I do get a lot of mail for someone who has a similar street address living in Ontario, Canada. But maybe you, me, and Roses could agree on something–that Wayne Newton stamps would be really cool.
The blog looks nice in this style,i like it very much.