Monday, March 29, 2021

SOL March 29: Post Office Motto-Fail

Don’t we all know the Post Office motto “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”? It’s not official, but the words are inscribed across the top of the main Post Office building in New York City. We also know how slowed down mail delivery became under the “leadership” of Louis DeJoy, appointed as postmaster general by the previous president.

            Mail is still slow. Incredibly slow. Unbelievably slow.

            On February 10, I wrote a check to Janice, the woman who cleans my apartment every other week. Some days later, I mailed her the check. (I’ve continued to pay her through the pandemic whether or not she comes.) This evening Janice, who lives in Brooklyn, called to tell me she had just received the check. It was postmarked, she said, on February 16, the day I took it to the Post Office. That was six weeks ago.

            Now where has that envelope been sitting all these weeks? Or did it go around the world a couple of times? Janice’s home is 14 miles away by car. If I’d walked it to her, it would only have taken at most four and a half hours.

            As the humorist Peter Sagal, of Wait, Wait...  Don’t Tell Me,” said, we shouldn’t know the name of the postmaster general. Now is there any way to get rid of him?

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I’m participating in the 14th annual Slice of Life Challenge over at Two Writing Teachers. This is day 29 of the 31-day challenge.  It’s not too late to make space for daily writing in a community that is encouraging, enthusiastic, and eager to read what you have to slice about.  Join in!

 

5 comments:

  1. Oh, wow! I didn't realize this was everywhere. I've been calling a company that I recently sent a check to wondering why it hadn't yet arrived. I only hope there won't be a six week delay. So glad I read this post! I will certainly keep this in mind next time I use regular mail.

    And how kind of you to continue paying her. Angel indeed. May you be richly and wonderfully blessed.

    ~Carla Michelle

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    2. I'm glad this was an alert for you. Ifi you have any trouble with the company, tell them my story as proof that the mail is REALLY REALLY slow.
      And since I've been able to work from home, thus still getting paid, it just seemed like the right thing to do.

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  2. I wonder about things like that, too! How can it take 6 weeks to go 14 miles? Where WAS it all that time? Unfortunately -- and frustratingly -- there are never any answers to the questions. Sigh. ~JudyK

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    1. too bad we can't track the mail we send the way our cell phones can track where we are. Even when there is tracking, it doesn't actually tell us where the envelope is sitting.

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