GOING POSTAL

Strange tale but true.

I have awaited with much anticipation the arrival of an important and highly prized letter.

It was taking considerably longer than the standard delivery time to get to me. This is never a problem in my usual place of business. It is a problem in my current locale, though, it seems.

I enquired of my current tenant and previous tenant here, and a couple of neighbors, and acquaintances, regarding the postal delivery service in the area. Here's the story of our famous postman:

* Upwards of 10% of mail has gone missing for some people, including important docs like drivers licence renewals, statements, and select promotional offers.

* There are dozens of mis-deliveries every day. Right street number, wrong street, or bizarrely irrelevant letters to unheard of distant people arriving in your letterbox to entertain you.

* Deliveries originating from less than a couple of miles away can take two weeks.

* When the postman, who has been on this run at least two years, is quizzed about the problems, he shrugs his shoulders and says "Wait on... I'm just filling in... I'm not the regular guy ."

* There have been heaps of complaints to the P.O. It is thought this guy must be related somehow to a senior Postmaster.

Here's a good couple:

* Posties have to sort their own mail in the system here. There is a steel security box at a central point in their run where they can store the excess they can't carry. The box, which is just opposite my house, has been left unlocked at least three times in my tenant's observation this year.

* The postie has been caught lying on a brick fence across the road, near the security box, sunbaking (asleep) in the middle of the day.

I am going to find out more about this friendly postman and his performance problems. I have only spoken to the guy once. He told me then he wasn't aware of any problem with mail deliveries to my house going missing, or any neighbors complaining about stolen mail.

Anyone got a worse postman than this to decsribe?


Ending the story:

I had to accept that the anticipated letter had gone the way of much other important mail in this slice of suburban bliss, to the philatelic astral plane of limbo.

I wrote a response to the letter and a thank you statement, as if I had received and read the letter.

Exactly ten seconds after I put my pen down from that enjoyable task, I heard the motor scooter pull up at my letterbox.

I knew by gut feel what had arrived. It was no surprise to me... in the letterbox was a yellow envelope, containing a letter written on 23 November. 18 days delivery time.

This is the way my world sometimes works. There are little synchronicities and incidents like this every day. Karma tells me in this case that I must have written my response in order to receive the letter. I was happy to give thanks before I received, somehow, and immediately I received.

It's enough to make you go postal, without quite restoring your faith in the postal system here.

I wish you wouldnt keep posting long things my brain capacity cant handle it!:bnghd:

It's not as long as the letter, or how long it took.

Actually, I think my "post" is just long enough to get the point across.

You can go postal over it if you want...



[Edited on 10-12-2003 by MaskedAvatar]

I dare you to petition the neighborhood and hand over copies of neighorhood indigination to your local politican!

That's a fair call, ktpr... and if this was my community I would really consider doing it. Maybe I should, I am known around here.

The postal service is semi-privatized. I would be interested to know what impact the politicians would have. It may be an Ombudsman issue.

Good thought, thanks.