re: #98 Mattand

I really try to cut the USPS as much slack as possible, especially in light of the GOP’s back-breaking “You must fund your pension 80 years in advance” murder attempt.

But, man, do they make it hard. I get a note in my PO box yesterday, saying to see the clerk about the final package I’m waiting for. Unfortunately, they closed at noon, and this is 3PM. My fault, no one else’s.

I look behind me, and the double door (the kind where the top half opens) hasn’t been shut yet. I can hear and see people moving around. I figure, “It’s Christmas, what the heck?” So, I say “Hello?” and politely try to get someone’s attention for 5 minutes.

Absolutely nothing. No responses, even though I can hear people standing around the corner talking and doing shit.

I get that it’s Christmas and everyone wants to go home. If you’re not going to help me, fine. You know what, though?

BE A FREAKING PROFESSIONAL AND SAY SO.

I really do try to support the USPS, but damn; they make it hard.

Part of that’s because unlike lots of businesses, the mail is ABSOLUTELY sacrosanct. A postman I knew once told me that if a piece of mail dropped out of the sorting machine and wound up on the floor, there was a freaking procedure for how it got put back into the system, because of the level of paranoia concerning the mail getting to exactly whom it is supposed to get to. I could imagine that the folks on the other side of the wall are completely prohibited from simply grabbing a package and handing it over, even if the person has i.d. It’s probably a firing offense. And they may be afraid that getting into a discussion about it with a customer might lead to a CNN breaking news story with lots of dead postal employees involved.