45 Minutes at the Post Office

So I had to go pick up the pile of junk mail which had accumulated. I forgot to check the mailbox here at the apartment for a couple of days and there was just too much crap to fit. Now you’d probably expect this to be a rant about how slow the Postal Service workers are and how busy the Post Office is this close to Christmas. Well, it ain’t. I expect a certain pace of work from the folks working at the P.O., and I expect things to get busy this time of year. That ain’t it.

What is the problem is how crushingly stupid the people were who were also in line. Not just stupid, but inconsiderate of everyone else. The typical L.A. syndrome of thinking of themselves first, last, and always. To whit:

• Not one person in line had the forms for whatever they were doing filled out.
• Even though there was a 30+ minute wait, not one person in line bothered to use one of the handy tables to go and fill out their paperwork.
• One person in five in line also thought it was a swell idea being their wife and kids.
• Half the people sending packages didn’t have them sealed. And, of course, they didn’t bother doing this while waiting in line.
• None of the people who were paying by check had their checks filled out in advance with date and payee.
• A quarter of the people wanted all their delivery options (Priority Mail v. First Class v. Pony Express) explained to them.

Get a clue, people. The Post Office is slow enough as it is. But rampant idiocy on this scale grinds what’s an already glacial process down to something beyond absurd.