The Post Office Continues to Surprise Me

[gnomi]

There has been a lot of talk recently about the fact that people are not using the US Postal Service nearly as much as they did before e-mail. The Post Office is losing money and is considering drastic cost-saving options, including cutting out Saturday delivery. But I have to give credit where it is due, and last week I received mail that proves that the employees of the Post Office are very good at their jobs.

This is the front of the lovely post card I received:

Postcard Front

But it's the back of the postcard that made this so interesting. It took me a while to notice, but the card arrived at our address even though it lacked postage or a return address. Of course, the lack of return address could be *why* it arrived at our address -- without a return address, the Postal Service had no idea what to do with the postcard other than sending it along to us.

Postcard Back

(I have a guess as to who sent it, and I'm about 99% confident in it, but thank you to the sender of the postcard, whoever you are.)

Comments

[byrne.livejournal.com]

I got one of those. :D It came from London, from a sweetpea.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

That was my guess. I'm glad to have it confirmed.

Did yours have postage?

[byrne.livejournal.com]

Yes, and an airmail sticker and all that stuff. Cancelled by the Royal Post.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Aha! Maybe the postage and all that good stuff fell off in transit on its way to me.

[madfilkentist]

Many years ago, Mad Magazine reported receiving a letter from another country, with nothing but a picture of Alfred E. Newman for the address.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

There are a lot of stories of the Post Office being able to deliver weirdly addressed mail. Bill Bryson talks in one of his books about receiving a letter addressed to:

Bill Bryson
Author of A Walk in the Woods
Somewhere in New Hampshire
USA

[magid.livejournal.com]

Perhaps the bar code on the top of the card had something to do with the postage?

Also, if there's insufficient postage, I suspect the default is that it go to a dead letter office, not the recipient.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

No one doubts how good they are at their jobs. (Well, there are those that are skeptical of any quasi-government worker.)

The problem is that the fiscal structure of universal postal service is somewhat problematic.

[cathshaffer.livejournal.com]

Just recently the mailman knocked on my door and asked me for $2 to cover postage for a package that had been sent with insufficient postage. It was a desk calendar sent as a gift by my lawyer, so I was very amused at having to pay for my own, unsolicited "gift." LOL. It was nice of the mailman to do that, though, instead of sending it back.

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

i got one of those too! but mine had a stamp. (i was going to give you a hint as to who sent it, but byrne beat me to it.) i got a letter delivered once without a zip code, which i thought was impressive, but an unstamped card is even better. especially since it had to pass thru two entirely separate postal systems to get to you!

[prisonbitch.livejournal.com]

from my short stint @ the usps, we were not allowed to reject mail for not having postage: that was someone else's job... But had they noticed, they should have left an envelope for the postage due in your box.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Great that it reached you! Though I'm surprised it didn't come "postage due."