There’s a lot to think about in relation to the US Postal Services, these days. As someone who operates a business that depends on the ability to mail books, I’m pretty keen on keeping up with what’s happening to this mixed bag of an institution. I LOVE mail– And I love the post office! I’m a dedicated poster. But there’s still a lot to be desired. I’ve had share of experiences with lost/damaged packages, rude employees, painfully expensive shipping rates, and totally insane and archaic policies. It’s exciting to imagine how things might change with a postal revamp, but also scary. I don’t want them to shut down offices, raise rates or become privatized, but I suppose progress marches on. I just have to hope that it marches someplace that still lets me drop a package in a box and expect it to soon be on the other side of the world.
Stop Paying Attention
By Lucy Knisely
I really don’t want them to shut down offices. And I’m personally a huge fan of the media mail rate.
Granted, I don’t mail packages as often as you do. But I have mailed an awful lot (I sold on ebay for a year). I found that using delivery confirmation really helped to make sure the package arrived at the destination.
I love the post service. I hope something works out to keep our postal service going. I think we’d find that we miss it if we don’t have it.
Hi Lucy – Firefox is warning me that your site has been recorded as an ‘attack site’. I’m sure that’s not true, but please check that nothing untoward has happened with your code or with your hosting provider. I hope you can get this sorted out. Continuing to enjoy your comic nonetheless. Cheers, Wayne
Great update – FYI, Firefox is reporting SPA as an attack site D:
Really love the shading on that last panel!
As somebody in the UK, we’re watching our postal service be “rationalised” in the name of capitalisation. Not many people agree with what’s happening, which led the London Review of Books to publish a long article about the effects of privatisation on the Dutch market, and how it affects the UK. It’s a long read, but interesting: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v33/n09/james-meek/in-the-sorting-office
The Canadian postal service is under attack/crumbling too, and it was always way slower and more expensive than the US one.
You don’t HAVE a Teleportation Device?
Wait, what year is this?
-Disregard.
awesome update! Love every single detail of your comics.
Btw, firefox labels your site as malignant… ):
Dunno about Firefox, but WebOfTrust now gives it the green ring of approval.
Move to England! Not London because that also has rubbish postal service. My postman hides my post in the bin if I’m out (it’s empty!) or behind the side gate, so I don’t have to go and pick it up! Also, MILKMEN! Delivered to your door in little glass bottles early in the morning. Rural England rocks!
Chicago’s repeatedly been found (from 2007 – 2011) just according to about 30 seconds of research, to have the worst mail service in the US. http://www.chicagonow.com/getting-real/2011/03/4-years-later-and-chicago-mail-delivery-still-worst-in-nation/
I heard a podcast once telling the story of a journey to a mail recovery center. I could have sworn it was on radiolab, but I’ve been unable to find it. The narrator talks of how she lost a box of cookbooks she’d shipped to herself when she moved. The box was missing for a long time but eventually found it’s way to her. It had obviously been torn open and resealed. The box contained cookbooks she’d never seen before, including Sofia Loren’s cookbook. She was so aghast that she had to investigate, and discovered a huge warehouse of lost items gone through the mail.
Things are auctioned off.
Here’s a small explanation of the type of place, from NPR http://www.npr.org/2010/12/28/132393643/Undeliverable-Mail-Is-Auctioned-Off-At-Center-In-Atlanta