Monday, March 11, 2013

Mike the Malicious Mailman's Partner in Crime


Do you remember my post about Mike the Malicious Mailman? Today's post will help you understand my history of frustration with the USPS if you read that first, and I promise that what I'm adding today will make this post a reasonable length so that you have time to read about Mike. Let me know when you're back.

It seems postal stupidity knows no end. The Engineer runs a thriving eBay business in his “spare” time, so almost every day I have to mail something for him. The hot selling product right now fits in manilla envelope and can be dropped in any mailbox since it's under the 13 oz rule.

The mailbox I most often use is behind my grocery store, but it's in such a ridiculous place. It has one of those “reach out of the car slots” so one can (theoretically) not have to get out of the car. But it's on the right hand side of the street. So you either have your passenger (which isn't often when I'm out running errands while the boys are at school) or drive on the wrong side, or park, walk over, drop your mail. Stupid. Here's what it looks like.




  It's in the alley behind a Safeway shopping center/strip mall type place.





Yesterday, as I'm pulling in (driving the big ole' prison van) there's a mail truck there emptying the mailbox, a grandma who is parked next to the mail truck, so all I can do is pull up behind grandma. The mailwoman is arguing with grandma and won't take the letters she's holding out to her. A person, whose job it is to collect the mail, won't TAKE the mail. She instructs her park and walk back over. So I pull up to her next.

You won't take my package?”
NO, we got a call that this mailbox was overflowing, I'm just here to empty it. The other guy comes at 4 to empty it.” (It's 3:48 or so at this time.)
So I can't hand it to you? To put in that bin right there with all the other mail that was in this mailbox?”
No. But you can park over there, and come back and put it in the mailbox.”

I'm so ridiculously incensed that this woman, who is standing at my car window, to whom I'm holding out a package WON'T TAKE IT.” However, it has to be mailed. So I park next to Grandma, who is also incensed, and we walk over to the mailbox to put our mail in it and the mailwoman says, “You can just hand those to me.” WTF?

It's no wonder they're thinking about closing the post offices.

P.S Yes - I did drive out in our not as spectacular as they'd said snow storm to bring you these visual aids.  You're welcome.

13 comments:

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Tina .. I have a few stories like that - but I won't go into them ... they are negative. Drives me nutty!!

Incredibly bureaucratic people!

Cheers up - we have snow here ... they've just phoned me from the seafront in an old lifeboat station where I should be going for a class .. to say don't come - we think the sea and the land might be meeting ... the gales are shocking.

Cheers and breathe to relieve the stress - at least you have an easy post to write ...?! Hilary

Brian Miller said...

thanks for braving the storm...ha....what the heck? put the dang package in the bin postman...ugh....

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

You're right - no wonder they are losing money.
Knowing it was overflowing, will you still use it? I encountered one of those recently and I both wondered how long the mail in it had been forgotten and how much was stolen because I both see and touch the overflowing mail.

Juli said...

I'm a mail lady.

I pick up collection boxes as well as deliver.

I would have NEVER done that.

Call the PO and complain about her. That is asinine. What is wrong with people?

In all honesty, I have my share of posts about the other side of the coin... But seriously, no one in our office would do that.

JoJo said...

I could totally feel my blood pressure rising while reading this and the Mike post from 2010. The USPS has gotten so out of control that I am hoping they fail. Their 13 oz rule is ridiculous. My boss had held out on getting a postage meter till our mail started to be returned b/c it was over 13 oz and had stamps on it, which meant one of us had to go to the post office and wait in line for a half hour just to hand it to the guy or pay for a metered strip. Small wonder they are going under. We'd receive mail for everyone on our street and the prior owners of the house but not get our own mail too.

Jolie du Pre said...

Are you sure you don't live in Chicago? LOL! That sounds like something a Chicago mail person would do. LOL! I figure these people know their jobs are on the line. Their attitudes won't be good, not that they ever were in a lot of cases. LOL!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

No pictures of you strangling that postal worker? Or is that a Federal crime?

Juli said...

Okay... just read your older post.

What the Hell is wrong with your postal people????? Okay, I get the mail box thing, but there is NO form for that (unless it's a city delivery thing I don't know about) and what the hell difference does it make as long as it doesn't change the delivery point? *sigh* I have had a couple of people move their boxes t o places that can't be reached, but even then I will deliver their mail with a note.

And this is why the postal system is in the situation it is. :(

Oh... and in case you didn't know, the 13 oz rule started when people were dropping/mailing bombs and hazardous materials, which is why they must go over the counter. But now a days I'm thinking a bomb could weight half a pound and no one would know... plus as far as I know there is no policy as to what to do if someone actually says "Yip. You caught me, it's a bomb" when handing it over the postal window.

okay... I'm done. :)

Unknown said...

Postal workers! I had a few fights with them back in Malaysia.

But in Singapore, they are not only super-efficient, but also super-helpful: carrying your heavier packages, recommending stamps and what not. This country is spoiling me.

betty said...

I did read about Mike (is he still delivering your mail). Geesh, I get rules, but these rules are ridiculous with what this lady postal worker did by making you and the elderly lady park to bring the mail to her. No common sense I think they have.

betty

Jo said...

Bureaucracy running mad. There's a lot of it about.

JO ON FOOD, MY TRAVELS AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE

Anonymous said...

Whatever happened to common decency and customer service?

Jeneral Insanity said...

Wow. Just, wow...

Maybe there's some rule against taking mail from people in cars? Maybe she had to be sure that you didn't have a gun and had to give you a visual pat-down before she would accept your mail? Maybe I'm trying to come up with an excuse for a grouch?

I would have insisted on putting it in the box, because those are the rules.