post office nazi

feeling a bit run down of late. . .my days off are for the most part errand days, running around all over town tryin to take care of odds and ends. mostly dealing with stuff for my new apartment.

given that i am technically homeless for a month, i had decided to put my mail on hold from the end of november until the end of december. nonetheless i have still been getting some mail in my mailbox. . .monday morning after hitting the gym, i decided to walk to the post office. . mind you, my old apartment is equidistant from two post offices.

so first i went to the one in greenpoint. after waiting for half an hour i was told that i had to pick up my mail at the other post office. once i got there. . i waited for yet another half an hour just to get to the front of the hold line. . . mind you, there were only three people in line before me. . the attendant was extremely slow. . during the wait, i questioned what the pay system is at a post office. i figured there must be very little incentive to actually work efficiently.

once i got to the front, i told the extremely slow attendant (ESA) that my mail was on hold and showed her my ID and a bill to verify my mailing address and asked if i could pick up my mail. she disappeared for fifteen minutes.

ESA: your mail is on hold until the end of december. you can't pick up your mail until the end of december.

v: (incredulously) but i'm physically here at the post office and requesting to get my mail.

ESA: i'm sorry. you can't pick it up.

v: can i cancel the hold.

ESA: no. you're going to have to catch up with your mailman on the street and tell him. he left already.

wtf? how am i supposed to do that?

v: i don't understand why i can't cancel the hold.

ESA: i already did you a favor by going upstairs to look up information for you.

wtf? you are doing your J-O-B, not doing me a favor.

v: i appreciate that. could you please notify the mailman that i want to cancel my hold.

ESA: i'll make a note of it and get to it when i can.

so essentially, after wasting my entire morning, i still have none of my mail. i really am going to have to rank the post office as one of the most annoying places right up there with kinkos. . .