Now that The Pony has accepted employment with the USPS, my hands are tied when it comes to complaining about the USPS. Right? I wouldn't want my actions to shine an unfavorable light upon The Pony during his 90-day probationary period! Though my current longed-for complaint would actually be HELPING the USPS...
Monday the 19th, I parked T-Hoe in the road (I'm entitled, I LIVE here!) and walked around to look in EmBee for our mail. I pulled out a couple of "magazines" (as the boys used to call catalogs), and the bill for SilverRedO's payment, which was DUE on April 15. Good thing I paid by phone on the 6th when I figured the statement would arrive too late for mailing.
But that's not my complaint! Not a statement reaching me over two weeks later than it used to. Nope. My complaint is about what remained in EmBee.
The USPS is totally off the hook! SOMEBODY is stuffing mailboxes with advertisements for their business. I'm pretty sure that is a federal offense. Once you put up a mailbox, it becomes the property of the USPS. Nobody can legally put stuff in there, except for the USPS. I know this, because I looked up the statutes many years ago, when a high school student was bragging about wiping his butt, and stuffing his underwear in a certain person's mailbox.
Anyhoo... this FLYER (I use the term loosely) was stuck to EmBee's innards like skin on pudding! (If you're old enough, you'll remember that.) I couldn't get that paper out. EmBee is made of metal pipe, about 6 inches in diameter. This piece of paper had unfurled itself inside, and I couldn't get a grip on the edge or corner. I must have spent 5 minutes trying to fish it out. I finally jammed it against the back wall, and got thumbnail under the front left corner. Just enough to wrinkle it up, press, and get a folded piece I could grab.
Of course Mr. Mobile Home Businessman wants to advertise for FREE! Rather than pay for digital or print ads in the local papers, or for radio time. Or get a proper advertisement to send out by (PAID) bulk mail.
I really think the USPS might be interested in informing Mr. Mobile Home Businessman that he is stealing their services, by using the receptacles designated as their own. When I was in high school, there was a big flap about the local newspaper being put in boxes attached to the sides of the rural mailboxes. Nope. Not allowed. So my dad had to put the newspaper box on a separate post beside the mailbox.
Anyhoo... I'm going to refrain from inserting myself into this cause. The timing isn't right, what with The Pony's recent hire. I know I'd have to give my name, which is not all that common around here. So another criminal escapes. Not due to Val's spinelessness, but due to her desire to allow The Pony an unobstructed release out of the starting gate.
Yes, I cut off the town and address from the picture. Hick agreed that such advertising is frowned upon. Although he was more ticked-off that: "I guess he seen a gravel road and figured there's a bunch of trailers up in here." I can only think of 5 or 6, out of the 49 households. I know the 49 number because of the electric company reporting how many lose power when one of our poles goes down.
More complaints than business will result from Mr. Mobile Home Businessman filling our mailboxes with illegal ads. Minus one, of course.
Better in the mail box than under you car wiper blades where they finally end up on the ground as litter.
ReplyDeleteThe pudding skin was the best part, except it might interfere with Mrs. C's pudding dip method.
I hated the pudding skin! No Pudding Skin Singles for me! I use the same pudding dip method, but it's been a couple years since I had pudding.
DeleteIt's also illegal to put flyers on utility poles, because the staples and nails are a hazard to the workers. Putting them in doors is either littering or trespassing. I saw a list of all the DON'Ts, but I don't remember them.
Downunder we get regular AusPost mail, then we have kids on bikes in the holidays cycling around and putting catalogues in the boxes, during school terms the dads drive the kids on the weekend and he parks at one end of the street, kid gets out and loads up his little wagon and drops off catalogues while dad drives to the other end and waits for him/her. We also get people dropping off plastic bags for clothes and other goods for charity pickups. Probably because AusPost doesn't want anything to do with all the extras, because then they might have to (gasp!) WORK! The actual AusPost service here is pretty bad.
ReplyDeleteBack in the olden days when telephone books were delivered by mail, I read about what a particularly horrifying week that was for mail carriers.
DeleteWe never had those delivered by mail, they'd get stacked in the back of utes, (what you'd call a small truck I think,) then that would be driven around the suburbs slowly while "runners" dropped a phone book on every one's porch.
DeleteI guess around here, the post office does it cheaper! Now the phone books look anorexic, though. Smaller than the old Yellow Pages section.
DeleteUp in the big city, some sketchy-looking characters would pull up in vans and hand deliver phone books to doorsteps throughout the neighborhoods. Good thing the pony doesn't have to lug those things around.
ReplyDeleteYes, that might be the "Naw" that broke The Pony's contract!
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