The Post Office - Can't Live With It, Can't Live Without It

When I'm not writing for SHIK, at work, or somehow otherwise being annoyed in my daily activities, I also run a small music business. Like a lot of other entrepreneurs working from the home, I have to make a few runs to the post office each week to mail out packages of CDs.

Going to the post office is an epic event, and requires careful planning. First of all, in the brilliant organization that affects many other businesses serving the common man (and which will get a whole other rant dedicated to it in the future), the post office is pretty much only open during regular working hours - meaning, it's only open when you're, you know, at work. It just so happens, then, that those few and far between days off and my early Saturday morning hours are usually dedicated to humdrum errands, such as mailing packages.

Because so many of us are trying to squeeze in our shipments on Saturday mornings or during our lunch breaks, the line at the post office is always staggering. Going to the post office is now much like a camping trip: you need to pack a lunch, bring your own chair, and go to the bathroom first unless you want to have an uncomfortable experience later on involving a lack of toilet paper.

Adding to the inconvenience of the limited hours is the lack of customer service. While I actually have to say that just about every post office employee I've had interaction with has been very pleasant (hell, one of the window employees at my old post office sends me Christmas cards every year!), there are simply never enough people on the job to handle the huge influx of costumers on Saturdays or lunch break. I often find myself standing in line at the main branch in my town, to see only two employees standing at a window made for ten.

And how about those Automated Postel Centers? A good idea in theory and a step in the right direction, but with a poor follow through. While totally helpful for the casual shipper and available 24/7 in many post office foyers, it offers none of the features small businesses often need. (Delivery confirmation? Insurance?) Each day I stand in line 45+ minutes, watching the APC machine sitting lonely and unused.

To add even more insult to injury, I was recently stifled by my local branch being completely sold out of almost all shipping supplies, as seen here. While I, like most businesses, stock up on padded mailers and boxes, sometimes I'm just in too much of a hurry and and opt instead of the post office's ready supply of flat rate packaging. So imagine my dismay when I walked in with a bag of CDs and nothing to mail them in. Oh, hey, is that a FedEx Kinkos across the street? I bet they have boxes.

I keep hearing how the post office is loosing money, laying off employees, and raising stamp prices. Well, you get out of it what you put into it, folks. It seems to me that if you offered your services at times when it was most needed, had a staff that could handle the demand, and made your products available for purchase...you might just actually turn a profit.