The Priority Mail Myth

Yesterday I mentioned my newfound disdain for the delivery reliability of the U.S. Postal Service. I mentioned a package that someone sent me over 2 months ago, via Priority Mail, that had not arrived.

I also mentioned unsuccessful attempts to call my local Postmaster to complain. Well, today I got through.

The person I talked to put me on hold while she went to see if the package was there. She was back on the line within a minute, telling me that the package was there, that a delivery attempt had been made December 24.

I was here December 24. That was the day that I got a note from my mailman telling me he was sorry he was unable to deliver a package. That's the time I successfully called the Postmaster, he told me the package was there, so I went and got the package. A box of Christmas cookies.

The Priority Mail package that I got today, cost $9.80 to ship from Washington to Texas.

It seems to me there is not much of a priority to Priority Mail if the priority is so lax as to allow a package to languish for so long on a shelf with no attempt to deliver it. Or return it to the sender.

So, I opened the package. It was several Christmas gifts, all wrapped. It was like having Christmas all over again. Out of it I have a nice Washington calendar. I'm looking at a snowy Mt. Spokane ski lift right now, with the lights of Spokane in the distance. It doesn't make me homesick. It looks cold.