Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Neither Rain Nor Snow

Three separate times over the past few weeks the U.S. Post Office has seen fit to deliver my Lands End catalog number eleventy jillion and two in an over sized envelope. The back of the envelope contains a long rambling apology about how terribly sorry they are that they damaged my mail, and YES they know my mail is important and they work UNBELIEVABLY hard to make sure my mail arrives not only on time but in one piece. The front of the envelope is clear, allowing the recipient to behold their handiwork by gazing upon the damaged item.

The only problem with this is that in each instance, I would have never known it was mangled if they didn't tell me. In fact the last holiday catalog I received (appropriately titled LAST CHANCE 2006!) was perfectly intact, save for the cover being loose at the lower staple.

If the Post Office is going to go to all the trouble of apologizing and repackaging their goofs, they're going to have to work a lot harder. Forget overcoming rain and snow and sleet and hail. I've got a large pile of unwanted holiday catalogs that could be pressed into service for target practice. What they have going right now isn't destructive, it's just annoying with additional packaging, which, if you stop to think about it, pretty much sums up the Post Office, even on a good day. Maybe they are working at their optimal level of incompetence already.

Never mind.

1 comment:

odie said...

What I find equally intriguing is the items that come through that look like they have literally been through a war, but have none of the accompanying apology. Oh. And you wouldn't believe the number of empty envelopes we get at our library.