Stamp My Foot

Val has a bee in her bonnet! It might as well be a MURDER HORNET! You know, that deadly new species that was found in Washington state, and the person in charge of controlling such a deadly species decided to fit it with a tracking device (!) and follow it, rather than squish it on the bottom of a shoe. Sure it had a nest. Maybe we should just put a lo-jack on copperheads and follow them around Backroads, rather than chopping their venomous heads off with a garden hoe when we see one along the driveway.

 

Anyhoo... I'm not here to stamp my foot about murderous insects. I'm here to stamp my foot about STAMPS! I avoided a bamboozle Friday. Fool me once, shame on me. It happened way back in October of 2016, and I am still steaming about it! Fool me twice, and I will make a snotty comment to you to resist the fooling. And write a blog post about it. I ain't foolin'!

 

I was in the dead-mouse-smelling post office Friday, looking at Flat Rate boxes. They have two shapes now, square and flat. The Postal Clerk stuck her nose in. "Are you looking for a specific item?"

 

I'm sure she was just trying to help. HA HA HA HA HA! AS IF a postal employee is there to HELP me! I don't know why it was her business. My back was to her. She'd just gotten rid of a customer at the counter. I think I should be allowed to compare box shapes in peace. They're FREE, you know. It's not like I was a shoplifter. She didn't have to be on me like a car salesman looking for a commission. WAIT A MINUTE...

 

I took both shapes to the counter. "I guess these are BOTH medium Flat Rate boxes."

 

"Yes. It says so right here. So they are."

 

"Because last time I picked one up over here, the lady at the Sis-Town main post office told me that it shouldn't even have been out. It was an old PRIORITY MAIL box, meant for overseas shipping, like to the troops. So I was just asking. Also, I'd like a book of flag stamps."

 

"Oh, we don't have any flag stamps."

 

"Okay. What else do you have. I just need a book of stamps."

 

"We have these." 

 

She pointed to a display on the counter, off to the side of her plexiglass drop-down barrier. Framed it with her hands, to be precise, like Carol Merrill displaying merchandise on Let's Make A Deal.  

 

"It's the Breast Cancer Research stamp."

 

"Well, last time I was given those, they cost more."

 

"Yes. That's the donation."

 

"You don't have ANY other kind of stamps? Only those?"

 

"That's right. Eventually more will come in. But this is how we raise money for Breast Cancer Research."

 

"Okay. I can wait."

 

ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME? 

 

The only way to mail letters and bills right now is by paying 10 cents extra per stamp? I don't think so! That is not something a government agency should be doing! It's extortion! If they do that now with breast cancer, what keeps them from saying, "We only have these stamps that raise money for overturning Roe v. Wade. Three dollars from every book goes to stopping abortion."  OR, "We only have these stamps that raise money for abortion. Three dollars from every book goes to Planned Parenthood."

 

Uh huh. No political comments, please. Just think about WHAT the post office might decide it needs to raise funds for. You may agree with it, or you may not. Maybe it will be to eliminate toenail fungus. YOU SHOULD HAVE A CHOICE to buy those stamps, or not. 

 

Seriously. Did I miss a decree that first-class postage for the month of October will be 65 cents instead of the usual 55 cents? What in the NOT-HEAVEN? I need to check with the main post office over in Sis-Town, and see if THEY only have the breast cancer stamps. 

 

I still have five flag stamps left. So I can go a week or two. Otherwise, I'm going to take my mail to the counter, and pay individually for postage. They can take my 55 cents per letter/bill, and stamp the postage on there with that red ink thing they use. It's not THAT easy to outsmart a smart-@ss like Val. 

Let the record show that Val has nothing against donating to Breast Cancer Research. But it should be a CHOICE. No, three extra dollars per stamp booklet is not going to send Val to the poorhouse. It's not quite the cost of two 44 oz Diet Cokes. The problem is, the post office shouldn't be able to strong-arm people into donating, just because people have bills to mail. It sets a dangerous precedent.

Oh, yeah. Hick said, "Just pay it, Val. Just pay the extra three dollars."

Nope. I'm making a stand.

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Here's the official release, from the USPS website:

 

The U.S. Postal Service had available for sale in September 2020 the following 65-cent fundraising or “semipostal” stamps: the congressionally mandated Breast Cancer Research stamp and Save Vanishing Species stamp as well as the U.S. Postal Service’s discretionary Healing PTSD stamp. These stamps were available for purchase at Post Offices™, online at The Postal Store®, and by toll-free phone order at 1-800-782-6724. 

 

The price of a semipostal stamp pays for the First-Class single-piece postage rate in effect at the time of purchase plus an amount to fund causes that have been determined to be in the national public interest. By law, revenue from sales (minus postage and the reasonable reimbursement of costs to the Postal Service™) is to be transferred to a selected executive agency or agencies. 

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It doesn't say how MUCH of that 10 cents per stamp will be taken out for "the reasonable reimbursement of costs to the Postal Service," or what the "selected executive agency" is that will get the rest.