APPARENTLY SCHOOLS no longer teach Readin', 'Ritin', and 'Rithmetic - the 3Rs.
Now I am convinced Civil Service exams for letter carriers no longer require the ability to read.
Thursday evening I found a letter in my mailbox addressed to someone who does not live at this address. I don't know that the person EVER lived at this address.
Being a good citizen, I marked, in large red letters
NOT AT THIS ADDRESS
stuck the letter back into the mail box and raised the flag.
Friday evening - our letter carrier apparently likes to sleep in and deliveries before 5 p.m. tells us the alternate delivered that day - I went out to collect the mail and - surprise - the letter bearing the words in large red letters
NOT AT THIS ADDRESS
was still in my mailbox.
I carried the letter, with the usual junk mail, into the house where I took a pen and, in large red letters added
RETURN TO SENDER
all the while thinking of an Elvis Presley song.
When we lived in Clearwater (FL) we had an EXCELLENT letter carrier named Vic. He was a personable fellow who delivered the mail 5 days-a-week (the 6th day, which rotated, was delivered by a substitute).
Now, with a Fort Lauderdale address, the regular mail carrier is a surly woman who delivers the mail in the early evening - after 5 p.m. most days - and who apparently is unable to comprehend the significance of the words
NOT AT THIS ADDRESS
and
RETURN TO SENDER
I recently requested a hold on my mail while I was away from town. The hold was to end on the day after I return.
On the day after my return I did indeed receive some mail, AND a bright yellow "Hold" placard that I put back into my mailbox after raising the flag.
Since I had to go to the not exactly next door post office to collect my held mail the last time I used this service, I was pleasantly surprised to have my held mail.
The REAL surprise came the next day when I received the rest of my held mail, about foour times as many items as the previous day.
But at least the letter carrier du jour had the good sense to take the bright yellow "Hold" placard with her. (Over the several years I have lived at this address I have never seen a male letter carrier on this route.)
It does no good to complain. I tried that and all I got was push back from the post office; not only do the letter carriers have a strong union but they are backed by the U.S. government- a double whammy assuring the customer ALWAYS loses.
As the price of stamps goes up, the level of service goes down.
Just like the level of respect this nation once enjoyed in other countries. Maybe something can be done about the respect issue, but I doubt there's any hope for the USPS.
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