Am I the ONLY person who is amazed and proud of the USPS and think they do a splendid job?!

[CrispyBiscuit]

I'm SO sick of hearing people down the USPS (United States Post Office)!    In ALL my 40 years, I cannot recall a single complaint/issue/mishandling by these fabulous people of that work in this amazing network!    I am amazed at how well the system works and how efficient (how little they cost the US government, relatively speaking) it is.    I get so sick of "snail mail" and other negative comments.     I say the USPS is one awesome network of amazing people who make it all work so well for all of us.       (and, no, I don't have any family/friends/spouse who work for them for me to be on this mini-rant).    Last week I ordered 62 baby chicks from McMurray Hatchery in Webster City, Iowa; they hatched on a Friday night and I immediately got tracking information.   By 2:00am (that Saturday morning which was like 6 hours after they hatched) they were in Des Moines, Iowa.   I got a call from my local post office Monday morning that they were there at 5:00am and ready for me to come get them (the postal service would have delivered them to my door but I requested that I pick them up from them).   They were ALL healthy and doing well.    I'm amazed at this.   It's a long way from north Iowa to south Mississippi!   This episode just got me to thinking about the whole USPS system that runs 24/7 and gets very little encouragement from the people She serves.   Is it JUST me that feels this way?   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[umsami]

I love the post office.  I've never had an issue with them.  All of my mail carriers I've had (and I've moved a lot) have been nice and kind.  

 

I love the Forever stamps and Priority Mail, too.  Two great ideas.  

[OK Family]

Sorry our USPS branch does poorly consistently! Every time I put my mail on hold, which is often, it's either not held, partially held or delivered regardless of my instructions that I will pick it up.

 

Another problem we just experienced, while my mail was held, someone's package was delivered to our address. Besides the fact the postal worker was in the wrong mile section, they left the package in an unlocked vehicle on my property, In other words they entered a vehicle!! Sorry this does not cut it...

[Retired]

wow you sure are enthusiastic  about the usps LOL  I never had a problem with them until a few years ago when they lost a whole life of fred book set I was selling

 

I even know my rural couriers nice group of people but I'm not going to cheer them.  I work my ass off and try my damn best  not to mess up but know one cares or cheers my effort but when or if I mess up it will be bad cause I'm a nurse and my mistakes have all types of life and death implications

 

I've seen people on this forum complain about nurses, doctors etc   I would love for folks not to complain about my profession but

 

ITS just what folks do and we expect whoever is delivering  a service or good  to do a good job and when they don't folks complain

 

Just life glad you had a good experience

[Tsuga]

No. I love USPS and I have had far better experiences with them than with FedEx or UPS. Sending thousands of packages, living abroad, USPS is by far, IME, the best value for money and equal to the other two services.

 

That is not to say they are perfect, but they do far more with far less.

 

I have sent hundreds of packages, eBay, military, you name it. I've send thousands of letters. I deeply admire our postal service and I am very grateful to them.

[Loowit]

It is hard to think they do a splendid job when my mail is often put in other people's boxes and they deliver my packages to the wrong house.  Our house number is clearly marked.  My parents also have problems with their postmaster.  It is a small town the the guy is very rude to them on a regular basis.  I am glad others have had better experiences.  Like with any profession there are good and bad.

[Tiberia]

My husband is a mail carrier. He walks over 12 miles a day. He's courteous, efficient, and keeps an eye on his neighborhoods. He cares about his customers and they love him. He's been attacked by dogs and has delivered in blizzards and heat waves. We realize there are bad workers too, and lost mail stories, but I know there are a lot of great people in the USPS.

 

And like I always say, who else is going to swing by your house six days a week to see if you have a letter to send, and deliver any letters to another doorstep across the country for 49 cents?

 

Thanks for the nice thread - my husband will appreciate it!

[Heatherwith4]

We've had good experiences with the post office here. Our mail carrier is super nice and is very friendly with the kids. :)

 

I think it's like any other profession - there are some good and some bad.

[happi duck]

My husband is a mail carrier. He walks over 12 miles a day. He's courteous, efficient, and keeps an eye on his neighborhoods. He cares about his customers and they love him. He's been attacked by dogs and has delivered in blizzards and heat waves. We realize there are bad workers too, and lost mail stories, but I know there are a lot of great people in the USPS.

 

And like I always say, who else is going to swing by your house six days a week to see if you have a letter to send, and deliver any letters to another doorstep across the country for 49 cents?

 

Thanks for the nice thread - my husband will appreciate it!

Well said! I have loved ones who are letter carriers and the above is true of them also.

[Renai]

I'll trust my mail lady over Fed Ex any day. Especially after the time Fed Ex left a clearly marked computer at the front of my house, and forged my name to sign it.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I really like Randy our long time mail carrier.  I'm sad that he retired.  The new carriers are ok but we don't have the personal touch of Randy.  Other neighbors feel the same way.  

 

I really like our UPS driver.  I don't know his name but he has his dinner break almost every evening in front of our house.  One time I had an important package and had to leave for an appointment before he got to our house.  I saw his truck blocks away and stopped to ask if he could possibly give it to me early, but didn't really expect that he would be able to do that.  But he surprised me by seeing my car, and having my box ready for me by the time I got to the door of his truck, anticipating that I would need it.

 

I have no real opinion on Fed-Ex.  They do their job.  But we don't have any personal connection there.  

 

 

[Guest]

You're lucky. We have had numerous problems over the year. I'll take USPS with insurance over UPS any day, but Fedex and private couriers are my favorite.

[Renai]

 

 

I really like our UPS driver.  I don't know his name but he has his dinner break almost every evening in front of our house.  

 

I really like our UPS driver too. His name is Frank and missed him sooo much when they were remapping the area. But, he's back now! I'm so happy. He's eaten from our garden and taken home some veggies over the years. His wife was pregnant with #8 at the same time I was pregnant with my youngest. He's basically watched both my girls grow up.

[fraidycat]

After my latest "episode" with the USPS, I have to politely yet vehemently disagree with you.

 

The level of incompetence in this case is beyond comparison, IMO. A kindergartener could have completed the task that several adults failed to do.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

 

 

The two problems I see causing the most issues with USPS are:

 

 

1. The regulations* put into effect several years back requiring the USPS to fund retirement (pensions?) benefits for x number of years. The time frame is well beyond any current employees and well beyond what is expected anywhere else. This financially has almost crippled the USPS making it harder to do their job. There is debate as to the purpose of the legislation but my personal take was to push towards privatization.

 

2. The second problem I've seen is Amazon prime. Amazon prime promises 2 day shipping, but then often uses the USPS 2-7day service. So packages are "late" when the USPS never guaranteed 2days.

 

 

 

All things considered I think the USPS does an excellent job.

 

 

* I'm on my phone or I would find links to the legislation

 

.

[Tap]

We have average good luck with USPS.  Our mail gets her by the end of the day, but since we have an unassigned route (restructuring made us too small for a full route) we never know who is delivering it, or when it will arrive.  We just get whoever volunteers for the day or an assigned OT driver. Our drivers aren't usually too bad, but since they are often forced into unwanted overtime after already working a full day, to cover our neighborhood, they don't go out of their way for us either.  I have had several books crammed into my box, being folded in half, instead of being placed in the parcel box or dropped the front door.  We have a community box so the parcel box is just 2 feet from where they are already delivering mail.  When they leave the mail box, our house is 20 feet from the street, with no fence, on a concrete path, with no pets, on the same side they are already driving.  So even if they have to come to the house when the boxes are full, it shouldn't be a huge inconvenience. 

 

I actually prefer FedEx.  They are polite and my packages arrive in good condition. When I have a choice between the two, I choose FedEx.

 

I don't use Media mail anymore due to packages taking too long (past the allowed time).  I also don't order from overseas if they list USPS as part of the process since we once had a package take months to get here from England.

 

 

[Arcadia]

 

I appreciate the two nice and responsible ones I get but not the one that dumps wrong Mail on my mailbox whenever he is on duty. I stay in a condo complex so we have three regular mailmen.

 

I appreciate the USPS office that we made our kid's first passport at. The people there are helpful and nice even on crazy passport days where the queue is very long.

 

I am annoyed by the rude lady who does the passport at another post office. The counter staff was helpful but the passport staff was rude to everyone. We went to that post office because we could get an earlier appointment date for passport. We will go back to the better post office next time.

[purplejackmama]

Meh, I guess they are good enough. Mis-delivered mail is certainly the exception rather the norm.

 

Oh but good gravy! I would rather stab my eyes out with a bendy straw than step foot inside a post office. No exaggerations. I've never had a good experience at the counter. Ever.

 

I heart UPS though. No bad mail (bills, junk, etc) just packages of Amazon goodness.

[happi duck]

We hardly ever have the same letter carrier and we never have the same ups driver. It sounds nice to know them by name!

[Pawz4me]

No, you're not the only one.  I've always admired what the USPS does.  Considering the enormity of the job they're tasked with, I think they do an excellent job.

[creekland]

I love our mail lady and all of those who work in our local post office.  We know them all by name.  I think they do a great job.

 

I won't go as far to say there's never been a mishap though.  Just last week we received a personal letter from WA that was postmarked March 13th.  It arrived April 24th and looked to be in perfect condition.  I gotta wonder what happened.

 

And the worst thing is when my boys were raising and selling chickens.  A customer ordered 10 "day old" chicks which we dutifully packed up in a "chicken box" and mailed out.  Apparently they were put or left inside something super hot as they all arrived dead.  The customer (and her kids) were definitely not happy campers (understandably).  USPS insurance completely covered the cost, but one can't bring the chicks back to life.  We'd sent other chicks and even grown chickens without problems, so who knows why there was a problem that time?  I'm glad yours arrived fine...

 

I don't think any organization, profession, or person is perfect.

 

Nonetheless, I appreciate USPS and use them often, having confidence that most things will get there as expected.

[G5052]

We've had the same mail carrier for 17 years.  He's a family friend and always goes out of his way for everybody.  

 

If I forget a stamp on a letter, he brings it to the door and rings the bell.

 

He picks up my boxes of books and never complains as long as I don't have too many of them at once.

 

When I've gotten damaged boxes, he brings the forms with the box.

 

His kids (second marriage) are 4 and 6, so we're hoping that he hangs around longer!

[Lanny]

The majority of the packages sent to our Receiver/Forwarder in Miami, FL, USA are sent to them via USPS.  The vast majority of the shipments I would rate the service as "Very Good".  Some of them are simply amazing and some of them are good, but overall they usually do a great job for us.  Many of those packages are books sent via Media Mail and they seem to get there as quickly as other packages. Sometimes Media Mail is incredibly fast, as with a shipment of a textbook from Ohio for DD, a month or two ago. That one was amazing.  Thank you for posting. It is more frequent that people post (here and other places) complaints and don't bother to post compliments.   Recently we have had several tiny little things sent there via First Class Packages.  Some of those arrived almost immediately and some took about a week, so I am probably wrong to assume that things sent as First Class Packages go by air, when they take as long as other shipping methods.

[kewb]

I have no complaints about usps. It has always worked great for me. I am sure I have had the occasional mail mishap but nothing overly dramatic comes to mind.

For the price of a stamp I can send a letter from coast to coast. I think that is pretty amazing.

[MSNative]

Our mail carrier Tommy is wonderful. So friendly and helpful. He does a great job. However, USPS overall, not so much. Lots of lost mail and packages and rude and slow service in the office itself. If I have something important to send, I use ups or fedex.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I think in general it works well, but we have had some lousy experiences. 

[Reefgazer]

The post office is my carrier of choice. I think they do better job for less fees than FedEx or UPS.

[Harriet Vane]

It's so dependent upon where one lives.

 

We lived for fourteen years in a poverty-stricken, high-crime area of a large city. The USPS for that district was truly horrible. They would not deliver packages, but would leave a notice on the door saying they had attempted and received no answer. This was a bald-faced lie, and over the years I learned to make sure my packages were sent UPS because I could trust the UPS delivery man for our area.

 

Even worse, there were years that a USPS worker opened our photos before delivering our mail. It was soooooo bad, and made me feel really creepy and uncomfortable. I had to pitch a real fit up the chain of command to get a response from the USPS.

 

On the other hand, the USPS where we currently live seems to be great. I am saddened, however, that folks in a more marginal neighborhood have to suffer with terrible service.

[regentrude]

I am happy with the USPS in general. Our local office is fine, our mail carrier is good.

Except for occasional glitches with hold the mail (filling out the yellow card has gotten better results than using the online system - that was an epic fail).

 

I dislike that they canceled the option to send things overseas by surface mail. This makes shipping ridiculously expensive and simply no longer feasible.

But they still seem to run ships; the Christmas card for my mentally disabled brother (who has a hard time dealing with such delays) took over a month and was stamped at a harbor in the country of arrival, despite the claim of USPS to send all international mail by air .

 

And international mail times are completely unpredictable, but I am not sure at which side of the ocean the fault lies.

[marbel]

I don't know that the organization as a whole is praiseworthy.  I've certainly known some very good employees.  I've also come across some bad ones.

 

One late afternoon my kids and I walked into a post office to pick up a package. This was years ago; my kids were very little.  The door was open and I didn't notice the sign on the door that had the hours.  As we opened the door the people started screaming at us - no hyperbole - screaming that they were closed and we needed to get out.  My kids were so scared. I held up my package slip and asked why the doors were not locked and they just yelled at me to get out.  They were counting the money in their cash drawers. We left, of course.  My kids were crying and I was shaking. 

 

As we got to the car an employee came out the back door.  She apologized, took my slip, and retrieved my package for me.  So she was praiseworthy!  I wrote a letter about the incident to the postmaster but never got a response.

 

I haven't thought of that event in years, till this thread. 

 

But we regularly have the wrong mail delivered to our house, and we have had mail delivered when we had a stop order.  I used to have a carrier who made comments about the companies I did business with.  That was creepy.  I remember he was particularly curious about packages from "Exodus Provisions" (which is now Exodus Book, a homeschool bookstore).  

 

Love the people at our local post office though!  Very helpful, friendly, and efficient.

 

So, a mixed bag for me. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

It's so dependent upon where one lives.

 

We lived for fourteen years in a poverty-stricken, high-crime area of a large city. The USPS for that district was truly horrible. They would not deliver packages, but would leave a notice on the door saying they had attempted and received no answer. This was a bald-faced lie, and over the years I learned to make sure my packages were sent UPS because I could trust the UPS delivery man for our area.

 

Even worse, there were years that a USPS worker opened our photos before delivering our mail. It was soooooo bad, and made me feel really creepy and uncomfortable. I had to pitch a real fit up the chain of command to get a response from the USPS.

 

On the other hand, the USPS where we currently live seems to be great. I am saddened, however, that folks in a more marginal neighborhood have to suffer with terrible service.

 

Yep, I've had that happen.  I'm home the majority of the time during the day because well I homeschool and we are doing school.  I've seen the mail carrier stand on my porch and write out that note and stick it on my door without bothering to knock or ring.  Lazy.  And then I had an issue with theft.  I am convinced the carrier was stealing our Gamefly rentals.  I did contact the post office about it and they told me to report the missing games to the police.  I did not bother because I doubt anything would have come of it, but I did end up having to cancel the service. 

[Jane in NC]

I am a fan of the fixed price priority mail box.  In general I think that the post office does a great job.

 

We had an amazing carrier for many years who has since retired. She knew the habits of an elderly man on the block and when he failed to retrieve his mail, she contacted a neighbor.  Turns out that the man had fallen in his bathroom and had been unable to move or call for help for over 24 hours.  I have read that mail carriers regularly keep an eye on the elderly.

 

My only complaint with the post office is not having one.  My town only has an independently owned postal station.  After receiving erroneous information there one time, I now choose to drive to official post offices.  I suffer from post office envy.

[Mandylubug]

Well, USPS contracts their freight with different airline carriers. Your service of chicks being delivered healthy didn't entirely land on the shoulders of the usps. I can't tell you the horror stories I have heard of live animals, insects, reptiles, human organs that didn't make it due to airline failure.

[MomtoCandJ]

I think it really depends on the area. I like our service at our current location but hated it in Georgia.

[SKL]

Mostly I like them.  They are usually great to work with.

 

I have had my small issues with them, but nothing insurmountable.

 

I do get amused by the way our usual mail carrier cusses out mailboxes when things aren't going his way ....

[AimeeM]

I don't blame USPS when shipping goes awry for me. I blame human imperfection ;)

I've had a couple of problems with Media Mail... most notably that it can take forever, only for a package I shipped to be shipped BACK to me, by USPS, saying that my package didn't fit MM criteria, when it most certainly did.

[AimeeM]

ETA: I adore our mail man. If it's raining out he opens the storm door and puts my mail in on the other side of it; he's also chatty, kind, and remembers your name.

[Mandylubug]

The user experience really varies with your home delivery carrier, too. We have two people that deliver daily here now. Previously we had no issues but our mail lady retired :( The new replacements will leave packages in the middle of our driveway, in the pouring rain. We have a covered front door area, a concrete drive that isn't that long. Yet, they choose to drive down their mail car length, drop it in drive and leave. It is quite annoying. My kids even know better when delivering stuff to our neighbors.

[tm919]

Our post office delivery person is better than our UPS person (who I swear, doesn't even knock half the time so I end  up having to go to the office to get packages) even though I think overall UPS has been better -- when I think of all the carriers we've had at different addresses.

 

From another perspective, my father-in-law works for the USPS and my brother works for UPS, both delivering mail/packages. Many days before Christmas, my brother is still delivering into the late hours and every day is physically hard. My FIL couldn't do what my brother has to do every day. The post office was one of his only decent options as an older veteran when he applied. I think UPS hits delivery date targets better and is more reliable, but it comes at the cost of a lot of additional stress and strong tough physical requirements on its workers.

[carriede]

USPS and UPS are really awesome in my area.

 

FedEx doesn't deliver here and passes their packages off to the USPS, which makes it take longer than it would otherwise.

[JFSinIL]

99.99% of all the folks working for the Postal System are great.  it is that tiny rotten apple % that gets all the attention.  I have had an Amazon box delivered empty....the underside had been sliced open and retaped after contents removed.  The postal dude drove up in his truck and handed me the box that way.  Other times gift cards have disappeared from carefully opened and then taped shut cards.  A local postal inspector even tried mailing me fake birthday cards to try and nab the worker responsible...of course when he mailed the cards with (inactive) gift cards inside they came untouched.

 

Oh, and currently my neighbors and I keep having to give each other our mail as every few days the newbie gives us the wrong mail.

 

Okay, maybe it is more than 00.01%  But most of 'em are good peoples.

[HRAAB]

I have never had poor service or any issue with the USPS. Our mail carrier is friendly and helpful as are the window clerks. Not one complaint which is more than I can say about most businesses.

[Serenade]

It is hard to think they do a splendid job when my mail is often put in other people's boxes and they deliver my packages to the wrong house.  

 

This has been happening to us a lot lately.  Oh well, at least it helps us get to know our neighbors.

[mrsrevmeg]

Our experiences are very different, CrispyBiscuit. At least 2-3 per week, we receive mail for someone else and/or we receive a piece of mail that has "delivered to wrong address" written on it. Our mail delivery person has even stopped me when I was getting something out of my mail box to make sure it was mine!! When we get a package that she cannot cram into the mailbox, she does not even knock on the door, just sets it on the steps. If we don't hear her pull into the yard, it could sit out all day before anyone notices. We have had packages not get where they were supposed to be, packages that came to us opened/crushed/damaged. It does not matter which post office you go to in our county, it is consistently slow service. They are often on the rude side, as well. So, I use Fed-Ed or UPS if at all possible. There is a shipping store I can go to and get better service and more piece of mind when shipping packages. I pay all bills online, so I don't have a lot of mail that I have to send. 

[Serenade]

We have days when no one delivers, 

 

I wonder if this is more common for rural deliveries.  While I wouldn't exactly consider us rural, we are just outside city limits, and it is not infrequent for us to not get mail delivery here and there, usually after a holiday weekend.  :-)  We've noticed a pattern.  (An no, I'm not referring to the official mail holiday.)

[Cinder]

The USPS for that district was truly horrible. They would not deliver packages, but would leave a notice on the door saying they had attempted and received no answer. This was a bald-faced lie . . .

 

We get pretty decent service from USPS in our area but it's like this where ds1 lives. He ordered a new phone and paid for 1-day shipping. He waited all day at his apt for it but it was never delivered. Next thing he knows the status was changed to show delivery was attempted but there was no knock, no note in his mailbox, nothing. He even checked with the apt manager because sometimes packages are left with her but the mail carrier hadn't stopped in the office that day. That was a Sat so he had to wait until Mon to go to the PO to get his package. With no note. I've used that same PO on occasion and it's usually a somewhat bad experience. The individual clerk is very friendly and efficient, but they usually have a looooong line and will not put another clerk out. Meanwhile there's this one woman whose job seems to be to wander about and ask people if they're picking up a package. If no one is she goes back behind the big wall and does . . . who knows? . . . until 10 minutes later when she floats back out . . .

 

Anyway, now ds has everything delivered to our house because we get much better service than he does.

[itsheresomewhere]

Spend a few days with our service and you will sing a different tune.  Our mail stinks.  Everyday, we get other peoples' mail and they get ours.  And our mailman won't deliver if it gets too cold/hot/rainy/dark/etc.  Somedays he just decides not to deliver.  However, on the days the lady takes over for his vacations we have wonderful service.  She brings our mail before 7pm.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I have not read all the posts, but I can tell you that the POs around here are horrible.  I would not be surprised if violence erupted someday over the incompetence at our zip code's post office.  I have seen customers get very angry there.  I will drive to a post office (only slightly better) further away from my house just to avoid the urge to scream obscenities at the workers at my local post office.  The last time I went to my local post office, I was sending a small package overseas.  I looked everywhere for customs forms, but they had none out in the little bins.  So, I stood in the incredibly long line.  They had two people working and there were about 20 people in line.  When I finally got to the window, I explained that I needed a customs form.  She grabbed the package from me, put it on the scale, asked me all the questions, then went over the shipping rates with me.  When I had chosen the rate, she handed me the customs form and then told me to go to the table in the middle of the lobby and fill it out and come back to her window when I was finished.  So, I did that.  It took me less than 2 minutes to fill out.  When I went back to her window, she was gone.  I stood there for a few minutes and she came back out and said, "I'm on break, you'll have to go to the other window."  Well, I went to the front of the line and waited for the other window to be free.  When I got to that window, I had to go through all the questions and all the shipping options again.  I wanted to strangle someone.  They do this kind of stuff at this post office ALL THE TIME.  I almost punched a guy once because I tried to mail something from the automated teller, and the teller machine said I needed to put a priority label on the package.  I went in, stood in the huge line, said to the guy, "The machine says I need a priority label and I didn't see any out there."  He said to me in a sarcastic tone, "Well, if the machine says so, you'd better listen."   :cursing:

 

I have a different mail carrier every few weeks.  I get mail for all kinds of other people- usually for the house with my same house numbers, but one street over, but I also get mail for other people on my street almost daily, and even from other cities.  When I give the wrong mail back to the carrier, I get an attitude because I'm interrupting his cell phone conversation.  Who knows if I'm getting all my mail?  

 

 

 

 

[Laurie]

I probably shouldn't ask this, but am I the ONLY person who thinks it's mean to send living creatures by mail?  

 

And I don't think the USPS is so great.    I had an issue about a week ago that still makes me mad, but I went to the post office in person to complain and it was resolved.  (I decided to go in person after the poor response I got from the post office employee on the phone.)

 

In my opinion, part of the problem with all the misdelivered mail, etc. is that some people come to work expecting to entertain themselves and suck on their coffee cup pacifiers all day instead of just during a designated coffee break.   The carriers that I see are always plugged into their "life support devices" so obviously their attention isn't 100% on their jobs...and this includes the ones who are driving mail trucks. 

 

I used to be nice and use a post-it note  with "delivered to wrong address"  attached to the envelope when we would get the wrong mail.  But no more.  Now it's the red pen right on the other person's envelope.

[ThisIsTheDay]

You're kidding, right?

 

I've read bits and pieces of this thread but only had time to chime in now.

 

I'm SO sick of hearing people down the USPS (United States Post Office)!    In ALL my 40 years, I cannot recall a single complaint/issue/mishandling by these fabulous people of that work in this amazing network!  

 

There is a vast difference between the USPS as a whole and individual employees.

 

I am amazed at how well the system works and how efficient (how little they cost the US government, relatively speaking) it is.    I get so sick of "snail mail" and other negative comments.    

 

This comment leaves me speechless.  Do you now know that in the first fiscal quarter of 2015, the USPS had a net loss of $750 million?  But so far, that's better than the $7.5 billion net loss in 2014.

 

I say the USPS is one awesome network of amazing people who make it all work so well for all of us.       (and, no, I don't have any family/friends/spouse who work for them for me to be on this mini-rant).    Last week I ordered 62 baby chicks from McMurray Hatchery in Webster City, Iowa; they hatched on a Friday night and I immediately got tracking information.   By 2:00am (that Saturday morning which was like 6 hours after they hatched) they were in Des Moines, Iowa.   I got a call from my local post office Monday morning that they were there at 5:00am and ready for me to come get them (the postal service would have delivered them to my door but I requested that I pick them up from them).   They were ALL healthy and doing well.    I'm amazed at this.   It's a long way from north Iowa to south Mississippi!   This episode just got me to thinking about the whole USPS system that runs 24/7 and gets very little encouragement from the people She serves.   Is it JUST me that feels this way?   

That's great about your chicks.  I have been very happy with my last two postmasters and their few employees in my tiny post offices.  The mail carriers here are great too.  That's not been the case in each of the places I've lived.

 

But overshadowing any wonderful people and employees is the fact that USPS is a prime example of colossal waste and mismanagement.  It's appalling and disgusting.  Unfortunately, that can be said of many companies, and it is not a reflection of their employees.