Sunday, December 30, 2012

The Post Office During the Holidays

(hello there. i found this post in the archives and although  there are many drafts in my archives that never make the light of day this one was too good to pass up. so now that i have fine tuned it for you without further ado, i give you the post office during the holidays)

The post office is an interesting place on any given day, but around the holidays it becomes a spectacle that any and all true people watchers can appreciate beyond words.

I am of course that said people watcher, who is now going to try and put into words the Post Office during the holidays.

Here's goes nothing...

When I set out a few Fridays ago (December 14th) to get my packages in the mail I thought if I chose a time that was during the middle of a work day( 2 o'clock in the afternoon) I might find the line not so long. The stress level not so high. The people, oh the people, not so crazy!

Ahem...
This was not the case.
The line was not only outside the room, the temple, the holy place, but it was almost outside the building!!
I waited patiently and was ever so grateful for my Iphone. 
I felt sad for others who didn't have an Iphone.
What a deprived world we live in that all of humanity doesn't already have an Iphone. Cough. Cough. Sorry, I mean....
I felt the urge to offer my Iphone up so that the man behind me could check his emails, but I didn't.

No, I started writing here to YOU on my blogspot app.
Do you feel guilty?

 Ya know what,sure, fine you can blame one angry citizen in Washington on me, and my lack of generosity with my Iphone, but  a thousand others on the Post Office.

Because, while standing in line I heard the murmur, the rumble, the complaints that started to work their way to my ears.

"There is no other business that could get away with such poor customer service"

"These postal workers are so rude."

"At least at the grocery stores they have a self check out"

And so on and so forth.

Truly, the conversations were as entertaining as the interactions that were going on up front.
Oh the stage that was set in those 4 open isles.
Yes, only 4.

One woman mailing upwards of 30 boxes all the same size, all marked FRAGILE.
"Fra - giley must be Italian"
My only guess was ornaments, but I dunno... what do you think?

Or 
The person who brought in two garbage bags FULL of boxes that were all going over seas, and all were miss marked. 
Umm... yah I said TWO bags FULL!!

The sweet old man wearing a plaid golfers hat(melt my heart)who had to fumble through his address book each time a box was being weighed and measured to double check that every last detail was correct.

Or the woman who couldn't get over the price it cost to ship something over a 1000+ miles away. Get over it LADY! Yes, we all know the post office has been raising their prices but um... you take that letter 1000+ miles by plane or by car and then report back here for the 6.50 you just paid for the priority mail that will be delivered TOMORROW!! 
Sorry.
I'm apparently highly defensive for the Post Office.


As I stood there I was reminded of two things, one was a song OF COURSE and the other was just a happy thought!!


1. I LOVE PEOPLE!! I do. Ya'll  are so great. So entertaining. And I'm sure as right is rain there was another people watcher, commentator in that line that was making note of my constant ... Tap a Tap a Tap a on my beloved phone, but no matter I love even YOU!! I love that we come in all shapes and sizes, all different colors, and different languages. I love accents, and cultures, and just PEOPLE!!

And the second thing I was reminded to sing was a song that has gotten me through many a pickle before...

B. A song one of my favorite songs, that I learned in grade school and have been teaching to preschool children for years, sing along if you know it....

"Have patience, Have patience don't be in such a hurry.
When you get impatient you only start to worry.
Remember, Remember that God is patient too, 
and 
Think of all the times when others had to wait for 
YOU!!"

(so here it is 4 days after christmas((wait it's after midnight so 5 days)) and i set foot in the post office again today, Saturday around 1 o'clock only to find that the madness hasn't ended. how much do we pay our postal workers? i think that they deserve a raise, and if i have anything to do with it i'm gonna see to it that they stay in business)




3 comments:

kathy @ vodka and soda said...

post office lineups are the worst! i usually go on a tuesday around 10am to avoid the line-ups or go really late (around 9pm). thank god for smart phones to help us pass the time!!

Barefoot Hippie Girl said...

This is a great post. I am thankful the only time I went this month, there was no wait. I was in and out in like 2 minutes. I think we need to be more gracious with people-the service people, the people in line. Just extend buckets of grace. That's what this season is all about. God giving grace in the form of baby Jesus.

Unknown said...

I like that song! I learned a similar one:" be optimistic, don't you be a grumpy, when the road gets bumpy, Just smile, smile, smile and be happy."

I love it but singing it to grumpy people only make ath more grumpy ;)

Happy New Years!!

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