My Kingdom for a Passport Clerk
everything I go to a US Post Office, I am stunned by the inefficient and unprofessional behavior. And, I usually leave in less than a positive frame of mind. The advertising jingle is incorrect - Fly and Eagle do not belong in the same sentence as USPS. Fly like a sloth, maybe.
A few questions:
Why does every post office have at least three times as many service windows as clerks? Is it in the blueprints?
Why do the clerks walk so slowly?
Why does every transaction take approximately 28 years?
Why does everyone within a 3 miles radius get in line right in front of me?
Why are there no passport clerks in the post office between the hours of 9 am and 3:30 pm Monday thru Friday even though the sign at the post office says the passport desk hours are Monday thru Friday 9am to 3:30 pm?
Why do we still put up with it? fly like an eagle, my ass...
A few questions:
Why does every post office have at least three times as many service windows as clerks? Is it in the blueprints?
Why do the clerks walk so slowly?
Why does every transaction take approximately 28 years?
Why does everyone within a 3 miles radius get in line right in front of me?
Why are there no passport clerks in the post office between the hours of 9 am and 3:30 pm Monday thru Friday even though the sign at the post office says the passport desk hours are Monday thru Friday 9am to 3:30 pm?
Why do we still put up with it? fly like an eagle, my ass...
posted by OurayDreamer at 11:25 PM
3 Comments:
John, you are exactly correct and my hope is that eventually the subsidies for this relic from a past life will end and it will be forced either to become lean and healthy or fade into obscurity. In the Capra version of Mr Deeds, there is a wonderful scene where the newly wealthy gentleman is asked to essentially rubber stamp the annual endowment to the opera company or some such enterprise. He asks why they need money and is told because they cannot sell enough tickets to keep the organization running. He then, rightly so, tells them he has no intention of throwing more money at such an unprofitable and inefficient venture. It rings a sweet-sounding bell in my soul.
BTW - I have not addressed some of the comments on the previous posts for a variety of reasons having nothing to do with my blog. But, I do want to make one important comment. I have always taken issue with anyone who chooses to bring the "you're too young to know" argument to the table. This is a forum in which we debate points of view and, I hope, we challenge one another's perspective. This is done by writing compelling arguments and taking thoughtful positions. Arrogance comes in many forms and we of the older ilk must not allow our own form of arrogance to color our responses. As I said during an argument on another blog, "I always find it interesting when people use the "you've never lived in the real world" or the "you're too young" excuse when responding to an argument. Reminds me of an exasperated parent hissing "Because I told you so!" It is not a valid response - it is an avoidance technique used to silence someone who doesn't agree with you.
As someone who has had way more life experience than I may have wanted, I value and welcome the passion and perspective that comes from the younger ones. Those of us in the 'real world' are sometimes too jaded and set in our ways to bring about real change." An argument should be met with a counterpoint not exasperated dismissal.
To be certain experience is valuable and does bring important perspective but it is not virtue in and of itself. Inexperience is not all bad - I am inexperieced at many things though I am 43. Just because I have never lived through something doesn't mean I cannot speak intelligently about it or even discover solutions to some problem with which I have no personal 'experience.'
With the plethora of problems we are facing, we need all good minds to engage and no one should be dismissed.
Quite frankly, it pisses me off when my contributions are dismissed because I am a young/old, white, rich/poor, fat/shinny, married/single, bright/stupid woman. These things are irrelevent if my argument is correctly formed.
There - that's all I have time for today.
I enjoy Monopoly from time to time, but I would much rather be playing Puerto Rico.
As crappy as the service is in the post office, living in Canada has taught me to love the USPS. Here, mail only comes 5 days a week and if you piss off your mailman he just won't deliver your mail. Our guy at home refuses to give us our mail if we park a car in front of the the box, but that's different. The mailman here has some bastardardized version of tenure so half the time he doesn't even go on his route. When we called and compained that we hadn't gotten mail in a week, Canada Post told him that there had been a complaint and, when he asked them who it was, provided him with our address. For about a month, we just didn't get any mail. I feel for your passport woes, but at least you get your bills in time to pay them.
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