Nun learns more about the postal service than she bargained for.

[sistawendy]

I ordered something from eBay for the purposes of circumflatulation, but I somehow missed telling eBay about my new(ish) shipping address this year. That means it's been forwarded.

Now, since I moved from one place to another less than two miles away and both in the same ZIP code*, I figured that the package was at my nearest post office about twenty minutes' walk away. I'd had a package forwarded before, and it took forever to get to me, so in lieu of bicycling this soggy morning I bopped on down to the PO with a printout of the tracking email.

The dude behind the counter was gracious enough to spend quite a bit of time looking for the package, but he didn't find it. As the line lengthened behind me I did feel like a bit of a bootyhead, but how was I to know?

As I hung out by the PO boxes whining via SMS, a postal manager named Paul came out to talk. He had some complaints of his own, to wit:

1. The USPS** needs people, but doesn't pay well enough anymore to attract them. He said that nominal pay has actually gone down in recent years!
2. Gasoline thieves hit my PO pretty hard with all their delivery trucks parked out front overnight. The Seattle police have been informed, but to (Surprise!) no avail.
3. Paul was circumspect about this, but the impression that he gave of Louis DeJoy, the Trump appointee postmaster, isn't so much one of evil as of ignorance.

At one point I was wondering how I could get away politely*** when Paul informed me that a) forwarding orders are good for a year, not six months as I had misremembered, and b) forwarded mail goes back to the big distribution center in Tukwila, WA, a little ways south of Seattle. So that's why the poor dude behind the counter couldn't find my package.

I guess you could say I messed with the US Mail. I didn't get my package, but I did get an education.




*That's the postal code for you non-Americans. ZIP stands for Zone Improvement Plan, and was introduced in 1963. They're usually five digits, but organizations, especially for bulk mail, like to use the nine-digit version introduced in 1983. Yes, I know my 9-digit ZIP, but I'm a nerd.
**The UK's Royal Mail delivers the post, but the United States Postal Service delivers the mail. Nyuk nyuk nyuk!
***Southern damage, I think.

Comments

[m_cobweb]

I tried to mail two packages today. First I stood in line for the Priority Mail kiosk next to a note saying the postage stickers weren't sticking because the building is too cold and staff would tape them on at the counter. There were twenty people ahead of me in the line and I gave up. Then I thought I'd just get a package pickup since I'd already paid for postage--but that's not available right now. I guess I'll stick the labels on myself and try again tomorrow. DeJoy may just be ignorant, but it doesn't take too much to know you need staff and heat to keep a service running.