Regular Office Hours

Whether you view it as a regular "nine-to-five", 8am to 5pm, 9am to 6pm, or something in between, you know what I mean - that time of day, Monday through Friday, when you're at work. Some are fortunate to have rotating schedules, work early or late shifts, or maybe even have a three day weekend. But in the US, most of us are condemned to sit in our cubicles from mid morning to early evening.

Why, then, do so many companies who depend our business only make their services available when we can't be there?

You've probably already read my rant about standing in line at the post office on Saturday mornings. But the same is also true for a variety of other much-needed services: banks, pharmacies, the DMV, etc. When the hell am I supposed to cash my checks, mail my letters, pick up my allergy meds, and get my freakin' voter registration card renewed if you're not gonna open until after I have to be at work and then close before I get out?!

Some may say, "Oh, but you've got time on your lunch break, and there's always the drive-thru!" Ok, have you guys actually been to any of these places lately? Here's a few true stories.

+ I was out of town a few weeks ago for work, and as I'm leaving to drive back home, I stopped at the local branch of my bank to deposit the paycheck I had received from that week. I had looked up the bank hours that morning, and found that while the bank didn't open until 9am, the drive-thru was open at 8:30. I arrived around 8:40, and the entire place was closed. I walked up to the front doors, and noticed a small print-out, informing me that due to budget cuts, the drive-thru hours were now matching the inside hours. So I sat around until 9am, watching a few other customers pulling up, looking at the sign on the door, cursing in a variety of colorful ways, and driving off to work. At 9:07, the bank teller finally arrived, went inside, and locked the door behind her! At 9:11, she returned to the door, to let me and two other pissed customers inside to do our business.

+ The line at my local post office has a current speed record of 43 minutes. I have an hour break for lunch, and it takes me about six minutes to get from the door of my work place to the door of the post office (and vice versa). You do the math, and tell me you want to swallow your lunch in that amount of time.

+ Two weeks ago, I left work and had to drive to four pharmacies in the area to find one that was open past 6pm. And even then I had to argue to get the pharmacist to fill the prescription before they closed at 8pm. Why it takes a degree and an hour and a half to put pre-packaged medicine into a little white paper bag is beyond me, but that's a rant for another day.

If I wasn't already running a small business, I'd start one like this: I'd make a new chain retail store that offers all of these services, but at the times when we need them. The store hours would be 5am - 9am and then again from 6pm - 10pm. Maybe I'd even give in and have a drive-thru window open during lunch hours and on weekends. So hey, you there - yeah, the one sitting at the computer desk reading this and eating Cheetos. How about you? Go ahead and steal my idea - you don't have to even give me credit for it. Just build a branch in my neighborhood, ok?

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.