Neither Snow Nor Rain nor ... Oh, Screw It. The Post Office is a Dead Letter

I think this is a hilarious view of the post office. I can concur with a lot of things here...

My husband is a 14-year veteran of the post office, the last 6 years as a carrier. I can assure the author that his comment about management working their way up from being carriers is a joke. The post office is top heavy but wants to cut the jobs of the people that actually do the work. The management are people who couldn't hack it as either carriers or clerks, so because the union prevents a lot of bad apples from being fired, they were put in management...not because they worked hard but because they couldn't actually hack real work. Common sense is not usually the strong suit of the management of the postal service. There are some who did work their way up, but a majority of the middle management that you get or even postmasters are either those that were mentioned above as well as white trash women who have slept with everybody in the places where they've worked. I've heard it all from someone who'd be great to work for, but who wouldn't lower himself to working in postal management. I'm not saying all of them are bad. I know at least one decent one. Maybe two.

if you lived in an apartment or condo, you'd be just as frustrated with UPS and FedEx. they won't leave packages at your door, and getting to their facilities to pick one up is extremely frustrating. The FedEx one is so hard to get to that I finally just found a FedEx truck on the freeway and followed him in. I go to my neighborhood post office to pick up packages all the time with no problems.

Hilarious! Thankfully I live in 75230 and have great carriers, also helpful people behind the window at the station on Forest Lane.

Jim, I can tell you that USPS has gone to hell. I've seen packages from Houston routed to Denver before they came to Dallas. A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I each ordered something from the same place. They were both picked up by USPS at the same time. They arrived on separate days. And, don't get me started on the Fed-Ex "Smartpost" (FedEx delivers to your local office, and the local office is supposed to deliver to your house). I've never received so much as a slip of paper when stuff is sent using that method.

Jim, Love your work but please make it clear that most management are clerks not carriers. If letter carriers ran the P.O. it would be a people friendly company!

Darn it. I must either live in the correct zip code or I go to the local post office that handles my zip code. I have been one lucky duck. Given that, my most recent experiences have been pleasant at the local post office. Of course, I pay 99 percent of my bills online and rarely receive any mail through the post office except envelopes and an occasional book (delivered to my house). Going to the post office and prying a package from a postal employee just isn't my cup of tea anymore.

Schutz, your writing, on this article, is the journalistic equivalent of Mr. Zig-Zag. It could have been an interesting article. One might write a similar article on Fed Ex or UPS. Clearly the Post Office needs to be reorganized, but if it's eliminated, watch the rates go through the roof.

PONY EXPRESS, WESTERN UNION TELEGRAM, SWITCHBOARD TELEPHONE OPERATORS, BUGGY WHIP MANUFACTURERS

WHY ARE THEY NO LONGER AROUND?

AND WHY ARE THERE NO LONGER USA MIDDLE MANAGEMENT MANUFACTURING JOBS?

HINT.....NONE OF THESE ARE EVER COMING BACK AGAIN.

LEARN A NEW SKILL, OR GO ON WELFARE.

The USPS is a failed government agency that is being creatively destructed by history. Selling this behemoth to the private market soon would allow 50-60% of the current employees to retain their jobs. Allowing it to continue the unavoidable slide will eventually push the USPS to a position where perhaps 10-30% of the current employees retain their jobs. The longer we wait, the more capital will evaporate. Maybe the sorters and carriers would like to choose which option they prefer?

USPS should eliminate bulk rate. Our mail box overflows with huge meaningless catalogs that go straight to the recycle bin. The postman has to lug all that garbage around for a pathetically low rate. If there is a sincere desire to save USPS they will DUMP BULK RATE.

We had a dumbass mail delivery dude who stayed seated in his little curb-hugging truck to deliver the mail in our neighborhood. If one of the neighbor's kids parked a car in front of our house he'd drive right by without stopping and and deliver NOTHING. One day my husband was outside pulling weeds when Mr. Dumbass drove by. He chased the truck halfway down the block, retrieved our mail and then reported him to our local post office. They may have killed him because somebody else is delivering our mail now.

No wonder your package didn't get re-delivered. You don't put a signed USPS re-delivery notice on your door, you put it BACK IN YOUR MAILBOX. All your problems would've been solved if you bothered reading the fine print on the re-delivery notice. The USPS also prints the exact address of the office that your item can be picked up at. Sheesh!

You need to understand that the USPS is required by law to operate in a specific manner. The laws governing shipping companies are different. Since you mentioned it a couple of times, just signing the delivery notice will NOT cause your package to be suddenly delivered. There is some reason that a notice was left for you instead of the package. Also, the delivery notice would have had the address and hours of the particular Post Office where your package was taken so you know where to go to pick it up.

Reading that slip a little would have saved you an enormous amount of time and grief but, it seems you just assumed that signing it, like you can for FedEx or UPS, would work.

You also seem to not like the idea of the USPS not just leaving the package. Usually, the carrier may deem that there is no secure area to leave the package. Of course, as you mention, UPS or FedEx tend to leave a package as often as possible.

I just read an article about a couple that has been arrested for trailing delivery trucks and taking packages that were left on doorsteps.

USPS is still a tremendous bargain and has been offering more services to the public to make the USPS easier to use. In the past, you had to take your package to a post office, wait in line and pay at the window just to get it sent. Now, if you use Priority Mail, you can print and pay for a shipping label at your home and notify the USPS that you have a package to be picked up.

I think if you would take some time to really learn about all that the USPS has to offer, you might be pleasantly surprised. Anecdotal evidence is suspect at best.

Good luck!!

postal service has gone to hell. last year we bought an item from ebay. when it didn't arrive, first they told us they left it at the wrong address. then they named a nonexistent address. then the post office manager was gonna help. he wanted to know what was in the package. then he stopped answering our phone calls and did nothing. we never got aour package.