In larger cities, mail just happens. It shows up in your box or on your doorstep every day. You don't have to think about it much or do much to get it. You just go and look for it.
Even if you live in an apartment and a box is too large, you usually have between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to pick it up at the office.
That's not the case here. Awhile back I signed up for a free 39-week subscription to the Wall Street Journal. My hubby's been loving it. I had no idea the problems it would cause.
You see, we don't have curbside delivery. Since it's a small town, we each have a post office box instead and have to go up town to get it.
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| Lots of PO boxes. The bonus is getting to see people you know at the post office! |
That paper is HUGE. Geez, I wonder what it was like before the journalism downturn. And our box is really small. Even that one paper the mail lady has to really stuff in there. Half the time I tear it trying to get it out.
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| A stack of our Wall Street Journals. They're bigger than I thought! |
Anyway, if I don't pick the mail up EVERY single day or if we get a little more mail than normal, I get a yellow slip in my box. Oh I hate that yellow slip.
It means my mail is inaccessible until the mail lady is back in the office. And she's only there 4 hours a day. There are a few key boxes where she puts packages sometimes but for some reason she never puts my overflowing mail in there.
So the other day I *GASP* forgot to pick up the mail on a Friday. Oh no, now it will really get backed up because she's only there 15 minutes on Saturday and I never EVER can remember what time that is.
No mail for Friday.
Being an optimist, I check Saturday morning (after the 15 minutes is over of course). No luck. Yellow slip.
No mail for Saturday.
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| Aw, dang. I missed her again. |
Monday comes around and I totally forget the post office is only open 4 hours (It changed from 5.5 to 4 hours back in May). I got there ONE MINUTE past closing time and, sure enough, another yellow slip.
Sigh. No mail for Monday.
So Tuesday morning I had to take the yellow slips to the lady and had a HUGE pile of mail, three days worth with, of course, three Wall Street Journals. This deal drives me crazy.
Don't tell my husband, but I'll be glad when the free subscription ends because then I can go back to my nice peaceful mail routine. Unless... what if he likes it so much he wants to pay for a subscription!
Then I guess my life will just stay interesting.
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Wow the things we take for granted. Going down stairs and getting it out of the box is a treat compared to what you have to go through
ReplyDeleteI know it! I've always taken mail for granted until now. And I forgot it again this Friday. Sigh. Yellow slip.
DeleteHoly cow! This article really makes me appreciate living in the suburbs. I had no idea that there were areas of the country that don't get their mail delivered.
ReplyDeleteThere are frustrating things here for sure, but most of the time the good things make up for it :)
DeleteOh my! I used to have a mailbox like that - when I lived int he dorms in the military and SHEESH, I hated it when the people weren't there when I wanted to get my packages and so forth (I was a young woman who had barely struck out on her own so there were often packages).
ReplyDeleteI know precisely the size of those boxes too - even a normal business size envelope won't lie flat int he box. You poor woman!
The post office working hours are so small town that it is at once shocking and amusing. I don;t know if I should smile or feel bad for you...
Thanks for reminding me of the kinds of things I should be grateful for in my own life. :)
Yes, some apartment mailboxes or dorms are tricky too. Man, you get used to getting this just when you want them, LOL. Yup, the biz envelopes are diagonal, you are so right! I try to just be grateful that we even have post office hours.
DeleteHahahaha!!! This is hilarious. I will have to share this with Luke. He is always grumbling about his mailman. He is on a "training route" and you may or may not receive your mail. Or, it might come at 7am or 11pm...you just never know what to expect. The good thing for him is that the mailbox is attached to his own house, so he doesn't have to go into town. Although...he could have to wait for the neighbors to kindly stop by with his mis-delivered mail... :) Thanks for sharing this awesome story!
ReplyDelete~Lorelai
Life With Lorelai
I know, right! It's totally crazy! Oh my gosh, I've never heard of mail coming at 11 p.m. but I guess in a big big city that would happen.
DeleteOh yes, the joys of small town post offices. There were several little towns around where I was from who had the post office in someone's garage. Those mostly got closed down a few years back when they did all those cuts.
ReplyDeleteLOL! In their garage? I'd never heard of that one. I know some towns have them in a business. We almost had to go that route. It might have been better, who knows.
DeleteThis made me laugh. :) We used to live in a small town and had a very similar experience! I really think they changed their hours every day just to keep me on my toes. We lived about a mile from the post office, so my son and I would walk there every day to get the mail. He loved it and it was great exercise for me - especially when I had to go back several times a day to catch them open!
ReplyDeleteHow fun you walked there! Good exercise! Mine is only 2 blocks away so I can't complain too much.
DeleteYes, what we take for granted! I have never lived in a size of town of that population. Interesting. Wouldn't it be nice if they just had a bigger box you could have!
ReplyDeleteOh geez, a bigger box would be heaven.
DeleteI never thought of that! I guess I am just a city girl. ;)
ReplyDeleteI used to be too! I'm getting quite an education.
DeleteTHis is exactly what happens at home for me. I am from a small town in WYOMING and nope, no mail men.... Just the POST OFFICE - And lets just say, when I go home, we make a DAY of going to the POST OFFICE! lol!
ReplyDeleteI know it! The post office is a total meeting place, isn't it? Everybody goes there at some point, LOL.
DeleteIt was an entertaining read--even though it must be so frustrating. That's so weird, because my grandma lives out in the boondocks--only 300 people in little town--have to drive 15 minutes to the next town to get a grocery store, and they've had mail delivered ever since I don't know when--at least 50+ years!
ReplyDeleteWow, really? Well, a few months back when we went from 5.5 to 4 hours a day, we voted on other options including curb delivery with no post office hours, post office in a business and having to go to another town. we chose the lesser hours so at least we have a place to mail packages in town. And there's no biz here big enough to handle all the mail.
DeleteIt really is the one thing that I loved about the city as well. It's not that bad here where I live though but I do wish it was better. I would love for the free subscription to end as well. Maybe you can tell hubby that the WSJ went on strike. No more papers. :)
ReplyDeleteLOL! I wonder if hubby would buy that? Ahhh, maybe not. It really could be worse. We could have no post office at all, but then I'd probably find something else to drive me crazy.
DeleteOh Steph. I can so relate. There are many blessings and many challenges to small town life. I can imagine how you felt when you had to keep waiting for the mail. In order to go to the post office, I have to travel about 12 miles, which takes about 15 to 20 minutes because it is all curvy back-roads. However, we do have a mail box close to the house for delivery, and I can drop envelopes there but no packages. So any packages have to go to the PO. However, we have the most wonderful postmaster. She is fantastic and makes every trip to the PO a very enjoyable time.
ReplyDeleteTruly there are many blessings and many challenges, but I wouldn't change it. Bummer about packages! Also I seem to fluster my mail lady every time I bring one in. If anything is over 13 ounces she tries to make me ship it Priority, so I have to go to another post office anyway, LOL.
DeleteHaha!! :-) He is going to ask for a subscription for Christmas now. Thankfully we have a mailbox since we don't live in town. I did have to go get a box at the office the other day though, really weird because normally they just leave the box and my mail on the porch if it doesn't fit in the mailbox, so I don't know what.that was about.
ReplyDeleteOh geez, he probably will. Sigh. I think postal rules are changing all the time. Sheesh!
DeleteI guess our town is just big enough that the delivery person can still throw it right on the front porch for one of my kids to trip over Every Single Day. :)
ReplyDeleteOh no! You wonder how the kids don't see it or don't remember to look for it the next time, haha. They are in Kid World, I guess.
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