The Government Works for You

Many tales, even horror stories, have been told about the “red tape” and bureaucracy in dealing with government agencies. But it’s a fact of life in modern society. We pay taxes to fund services. In order to deliver services, government must hire people. The problem, according to popular argument, is that unlike private enterprise, government employees do not have to worry about competition. There are no Mom and Pop DMVs down the street threatening to take their customers. If you want to drive, you have to endure the indignities of long wait times, surly representatives and arcane regulations and fees.

The U.S. Postal Service is an exception. There are competitors…UPS and Fed Ex for example. But that doesn’t stop the post office from behaving as if its customers have no choices. Several times I have waited in a long line at the post office and just when it is my turn, the postal employee checks the clock, puts up the “Next Window” sign and walks away…all while there are a dozen people in line behind me. No privately owned business would ever do that to its customers and hope to stay in business.

A recent run in at the post office illustrates this disconnect perfectly. Here’s the situation: my sister sent me a book by “media mail” which is a slightly less expensive option than First Class. The book traveled from Crocket, California to Chico, which according to Google is 149.5 miles. I’m not sure how many days it took. Doesn’t really matter.

The problem was, my sister addressed the book to my “old” address. I still reside at that address but a few months ago I got a post office box. Because I just don’t get enough of government employees, I wanted to make sure I get to enter a government office six days a week but not on Federal holidays. It is important to note that my “old” address, where I still reside, was serviced by the same Post Office. So basically, my mail goes to the same post office but instead of putting it out on a truck for delivery they stick it in a small box and I come and pick it up.

Back to the book. It cost $2.82 for this book to be transported 149.5 miles by trusty postal workers via media mail. That’s a bargain. But once the book arrived at the post office it encountered a problem: a forwarding order.  Generally speaking, when you change your address, you let the post office know so it can forward your mail to you. All of your mail comes with a yellow sticker with your new address on it. In my case, it takes a few days extra for someone or some machine to slap the sticker on, have the mail re-sorted and put into the little box.

When I got to the post office the other day, I got a notice in my little box that I received a package. The book! When I went to get the book from the postal worker, I learned something new. Did you know that media mail cannot be forwarded? Neither did I. What does this mean and how does this illustrate bureaucracy, you ask?

Well, apparently my book arrived at my post office, addressed to my residence instead of my post office box. So a government employee, slapped a yellow forwarding sticker on my package, stuck it in a cabinet (because it wouldn’t fit in my little box) and slipped a pick up slip in my post office box. Which is exactly what the government employee would have done if it WAS addressed to my post office box. Except the part about the yellow sticker.  

But remember the part about not forwarding media mail? Instead of cheerfully handing over my book, the government employee charged me $2.82 before they would hand it over. That number should look familiar. Because it is the exact amount my sister paid in postage for the book to travel 149.5 miles. And instead of being grateful to me for eliminating home delivery of my mail and paying them to rent the box, they charge me to slap a yellow sticker on my book. Because they don’t “forward” media mail.