Anyway, I for one, am relieved. With the advent of that stealthy e-mail thing, I now only get bills, junk and other people's mail. Seriously - what's there to look forward to on any day? Most weeks I have to take at least three batches of mail to someone in the neighbo(u)rhood, so I'm seeing Saturday as my other day off from postal duties. If the person lives more than a few blocks away I just hand it back to the mail man. I don't have time to be covering his backside, and besides, it's too cold at the moment to be outside unless you have to. (One great thing about mail here in the US is that the mail carrier will take outgoing mail too! You don't have to wander round looking for a mail/letter box unless you want to.)
I have a great relationship now with the people in the next streets who have the same door number. We have a mutual understanding that if it looks like something important (including a bill, alas) we'll bring it round straight away, but anything junky can wait until we've built a pile up.
What people seem to have failed to grasp however is that the USPS isn't delivering first class mail on Saturdays. Hate to be a Debbie Downer here, but since all the junk is third class mail, and probably what the USPS makes most money from - it could still be winging its way to us of a Saturday.
We'll have to wait and see. This gripping story is still unfolding...
Recently stayed in a B&B. Was chatting to the owners about guests, and how different nationalities behave. They started talking about Americans, and how demanding they can be, quoting in evidence the example of the woman who handed them a postcard and said "just put that with your own mail". I explained the thing about the USPS mailman collecting outgoing mail on his round.
ReplyDeleteCultural differences. A little thing can make a big impression.
I have to say when we first arrived here 10 years ago I was appalled by the junk mail and catalogues which I paid to have stopped. Now they are creeping back in and to be honest make great reading - especially those frontgate ones full of things you never knew you needed. Though the amount of pages used in Neiman Marcus catalogues and those of DWR and Restoration hardware are really scary!
ReplyDeleteThe out-going mail thing is very handy although because I have a mail slot in my front door, I have to chase the mail carrier down rather than just leaving it somewhere. None of these fancy, suburban mail boxes at the end of the drive, in the city!
ReplyDeleteThe Frontgate one makes me laugh. I live in downtown Chicago - how on earth do they think we live? No one has pools and my backyard couldn't even fit one of those chairs let alone the whole "suite". LOL
ReplyDeleteSeems that we are heading that way too. We only have one delivery a day now. I do still get handwritten mail sometimes. Get quite excited about that. However, it is so expensive to send mail now, even second class.
ReplyDeleteMaggie x
Nuts in May
We only get one delivery a day and mine is anything from about 2-7pm; never in the morning. Bit rubbish really.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to jump back into my letter/card sending ways; but find that most people don't reciprocate.
ReplyDeleteAnd wait....you mean to tell me that in other countries they get more than one delivery per day?!
I know England used to get one first thing in the morning and one later on in the day but they've cut that down. The amazing thing is you can post a letter the evening before and it's at its destination the next morning. I know it's a small country but it's still impressive.
ReplyDeleteWe get lots of junk mail too, but I do like that they take your letters for you. Our postmen here have always been quite helpful actually - whereas in London it was awful, I was forever having to chase them down the street with someone else's mail, or go and collect things they hadn't bothered to deliver even though I was in.
ReplyDelete