...occurred this morning when I wanted to go to the post office to mail a card. I have a close associate who does a most remarkable work of advertising an upcoming birthday. It occurs on Jan. 21, and she begins promoting this event the minute we get Christmas squared away. So there is the better part of a month's time when she is continually reminding friends, family, complete strangers that there will be someone celebrating a birthday in the near future.
For the past several years I have tried to ensure lots of birthday greetings, I am buying, addressing, stamping cards in quantity to get another in the postal system about six days a week. It has amused me in recent days to travel across the state, stop in little burgs and request the clerk hand-cancel a card in places like Hoboken and Withlacoochee. And deposit in the slot, leaving it to eventually make it's way to southeast Atlanta.
I was going to get to the branch post office here in St Elmo suburb of Chattanooga before the office closed at noon to mail another card after asking the clerk to put a local cancellation mark on the envelope. But guess I already sent off that assortment of cards I stockpiled with stickers and stamps to take when I was tearing across the state all week. Because I looked in my car and could not find one to mail today.
They had some errands to run, and were going to the branch library, just down the street from the postoffice. I said I would walk over to the postoffice to get a postal card, so I could write a note, have the clerk hand cancel and put it in the mail. I walked from the library parking lot, down the street in front of the fire station to the postoffice, and asked the clerk to sell me a card, so I could write it on the spot, and get it cancelled to send with greetings to the girl who is anticipating her birthday. That particular branch was OUT of postcards. How can that be? Does this begin to explain why the USPS is in such dire straits? Maybe.....
She did offer to sell me a stamp suitable for mailing a postcard, and I knew I had just unearthed one in the back seat of my car. So I bought one dinky little 33 cent stamp, and had to go back to the library to get my card. And hope that I could get it written and return to the counter before the sole clerk would close for the day.
I walked back to the library parking lot, and called to get them to come out with the key, to unlock the car, so I could get a postcard out of the car, walk back to the postoffice, write my note and send it on it's way. He came out with the wrong ring, key a clicker to unlock the door of the car we were Not in. All this time, the clock is ticking, I am thinking the postal clerk is going to lock the door before I can get back and write my card, and it won't get that cancellation to prove it was mailed in TN. We finally get the door open, I get my card and dash back across the lot at the fire station to get back to the PO and write my message. Hoping that if she did decide to close up, I would be on the inside when she locked the door, and she would have to take my card.
It all worked out....
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