A little OT, but man the Post Office really ticks me off!!!!!

[jtryka]

I was down at the PO at lunch today, mailing a low value (like under $20) Kennedy for an eBay sale. So the buyer wants the insurance so I say I need to insure it for $20, keep in mind this was in a #10 envelope with the coin in one of those cardboard sticky things. Here's how it went:

 

Me: I need to insure this for $20.

Postal Ogre: What's inside of it?

Me: None of your business.

Postal Ogre: Because if there's money inside we can't insure it.

Me: Don't worry, you can insure it.

Postal Ogre: What's inside?

Me: You don't need to know.

Postal Ogre: Yes I do, we have security measures and we have to know.

Me: No, you don't, it's called the 4th Amendment, and last I checked, even the postal service was subject to the Constitution of the United States.

Postal Ogre: I'm not gonna argue with you sir. What is inside?

Me: (finally I succumb) It's a numismatic item.

Postal Ogre: What's that?

Me: Look it up.

Postal Ogre: That'll be $1.90.

 

AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! Someone let me know when the second American revolution happens so I can fight to once again live freely in a democratic republic with limited government that does not ignore the constitution!

[EVillageProwler]

You can ask to speak with the supervisor.

 

EVP

 

[jtryka]

But EVP, this was a small office, and there is only 2 people, no supervisor, and by the way, it's staffed entirely by insufficiently_thoughtful_persons.

[Guest]

Was it a woman?

 

COINHOLEIO

KINGKOIN KING OF KOINS

[GP_]

I usually just tell them it is a collectable.

[jtryka]

yes it was a woman, and as for next time, I am just going to tell her it's a nude self portrait.

[jeh46544]

I really hate when they ask me what's inside when I try to mail stuff. I was kicked out once when I told them to kiss my bottom. I said something besides "bottom," but we can't use that kind of language here.

[Guest]

Was she blond?

COINHOLEIO

KINGKOIN KING OF KOINS

[Gunsmoke]

I have been having a rough day with personnel problems, but you post made me laugh. Sorry for the hassle, but thanks for sharing.

[jtryka]

Coinholio, she wasn't blond, and she wasn't pretty either.

 

Gunsmoke, glad I could provide you with a little levity. I too have been having a bad day with government employees. The PO lady was the latest, but this morning I was walking from the car to my office, at 5:30 AM, not a car in sight, so I crossed even though the light was red, not a big deal right? WRONG! Not in Podunk freakin Seattle, land where terrorist cells and snipers are free to roam the suburbs, but by golly we will not tolerate jaywalking! The insufficiently_thoughtful_person cop scolded me and threatened me with a $42 ticket.

 

Man I'm having a crappy angst-filled day!

[jeh46544]

Wow! Someone actually enforces jay walking? I really hate cops. Schools seem to think every child is a murderer so they have cops all over the schools, my school must be the worst. There is atleast 10 cops in the school at all times.

 

This is OT from the original topic, but it's sort of related. I have been comparing prisons to schools. (particularly middle and high schools)

 

The similarities are uncanny. Here are some of the similarities:

Principal = Warden

Hallway patrols = guards

Cameras watching everything.

They must know where you are at all times.

You must ask to use the restroom.

Never go outside.

 

 

 

[Guest]

So, she wasn't blond huh? Well, I was 50% correct.

 

COINHOLEIO,

KINGKOIN KING OF KOINS

[New_Horizons]

Yep. We've had the same 'curiosity' ourselves, a number of times. They alsways ask: what's in the envelope? Usually, if the coin is at least 25 years old, or older, I tell them it's a small antique-- not perishable, not liquid, etc. That seems to satisfy them...

Sorry too see you go through such a hard day...

[mrkelso]

All that for $20 worth of insurance? Was this a New Jersey post office?

[jtryka]

Actually it was in the middle of downtown Seattle in the Columbia Tower (the tallest building west of the Mississippi!).

[Chippewa]

I appreciate your concern over the state of our government. I was pulled over by our Michigan state police the other day on my way into work at 6 AM while going under the speed limit with seat belt on for the offense of driving with a cracked windshield. After opining to the state trooper that he might be better served ticketing the gravel trucks that drop the stones that crack my windshield every 3 to 4 months, I was given a ticket. I feel your pain.

[davefperry]

When I was younger and had long hair I was pulled over in a small town because I was avoiding their potholes in my lane. The cop didn't like my looks and gave me a ticket for weaving inside my lane and was so ticked off that I wasn't drunk he told me never to come back to 'his' town again. I thought he was going to shoot me after I asked how I was going to pay the ticket without returning to the scene of the crime.

Sorry to hear of your PO trouble. The only times I've been asked about contents was when I shipped something overseas.

[jtryka]

Well, Good news! Today I did the same thing at my local post office, no questions asked. I guess I'll just avoid sending insured packages from work again!

[Guest]

Was a man at the counter this time?

 

COINHOLEIO

KINGKOIN KING OF KOINS

[jtryka]

Ironically enough, today it was a man on the other side of the counter.

[Coinosaurus]

I used to think a lot of our public servants were insufficiently_thoughtful_persons until I spent about an hour in a police station (doing an accident report, but that's another story). If you could see the they have to deal with, just in terms of the public coming in and expecting the cops to solve all their problems......unbelievable.....these guys do not get paid nearly enough. But what does this have to do with coins? Oh right, the PO guys telling you not to ship money in the mail. Whenever anyone at the PO asks me what's in the envelope I tell them it is a "medal". No one seems to have a problem with that. I suppose you can assert your right to not tell them what it is but these days it's probably best to not be too difficult.

[Guest]

I thought so. Well, that explains it.

 

COINHOLEIO

KINGKOIN KING OF KOINS

[4thStooge-migration]

Apparently Jystra went, not to a USPS site, but to a CONTRACTOR for the usps. In the future, I would suggest that when mailing 'numismatic' items, you go a a 'real' post office where they will not quiz you on the contents. These folks that man the counteres at these satellite p.o. are NOT postal employees. Here's a hint for you; the ONLY packages that I ever 'lost' in the mail went through a contracted satellite post office. Never again for me. I'll stand in line all day if need be but I'll never mail anything of value again through a contractor site.