A Note to the Post Office from Santa–ALL GIFTS ARE IMPORTANT
It’s official: I will never be mailing another important package through the United States Post Office. Basic letters and such I will still drop in the box, but for the rest of my important packages its UPS or Fed Ex.
That is because a Christmas package that I mailed by Second Day US Mail on December 18 was received on January 22. The small box was sent from Northern Westchester NY, to upstate Massena NY, not across the country or overseas.
I had heard the warnings about getting your gifts out in the mail early for the Holidays 2020, and I thought that one week would be sufficient. I asked the Postal worker when she thought it would arrive if I sent it 2nd day. Her response should have told me that I was in trouble. “I can’t guarantee a delivery before Christmas,” she said.
I thought about sending next day but declined. Now I wonder if the package would have been received by Dec. 25 if I did spend $25 on next day, or when would it have arrived?
The gift was for a dear friend of my brother in law. I mailed it to him to give to her from my wife and I. And guess what, I wanted it there before late January.
I don’t have the energy or the time to find my receipt and track the package and find out what the heck happened. But I learned my lesson and will be going UPS or Fed Ex the next time around.
I know that I am not alone in my frustrating experience. The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote on Jan 16, “In U.S. Postal Service facilities in Pennsylvania and across the country, hundreds of thousands of items sent in late November and early December are sitting at the bottom of massive piles of delayed mail that continue to grow with new packages daily… as the agency continues to experience record package volumes amid the pandemic, the pile keeps growing. “Honestly, it’s going to be at least six to eight weeks,” to catch up, according to a postal clerk.
This is also an insane way of delivering packages. “The Pile” of mail is being delivered from the top of the pile to the bottom, but the bottom of the pile is where my Christmas gifts, (and maybe yours?) awaits delivery. The oldest piece of mail or package should be delivered first. Why is this such a difficult or impossible task?
The Inquirer story goes onto explain that UPS and Fed Ex began rejecting packages on a certain date before Christmas because they knew they could not deliver it on time. That is more responsible., and businesslike way to handle it.
My other thought about critical pieces of mail that may or may not have been delivered-Absentee ballots. If you mailed in your absentee ballot, how do you know that your ballot made it to the Board of Elections and was counted?
We can all see that absentee ballots are the way of the future. State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins has submitted a package of election reforms that strengthen the ability for New Yorkers to cast their ballot by absentee. And I’m ok with that, my wife and daugther and I all voted absentee in Nov. 2020, but I delivered the ballots to the BOE to make sure they were counted.
If 100 million Americans are going to vote by Absentee every four years, we need to ensure that the US Postal Service can deliver our ballots. And Santa also wants to make sure that all gifts are delivered on time.
By the way, the person who received our gift 34 days late loved the gift and way very considerate about the delay.
