Adventures at the Post Office

This is a busy time of year for the post office.  I recently had the misfortune of needing to go there.  Had I simply needed stamps, I would have considered going to the grocery store.  However, I needed to mail a package, which meant going to the actual post office...

...on the other side of town.

I managed to arrive during the noon hour, so, not only were there more people in line, but someone was clearly on lunch, as only one person was working the counter.  There was a man hovering around behind the counter, but he never came up and offered to help with the dozen or so people in line.

The guy in the passport office, however, stepped in to help.  When I was next in line, I was anxiously glancing from one end to the other in order to see which would end first.  There was an older gentleman at the passport desk who had just finished buying his stamps and he motioned for me to go down there and be helped.  When I got down there, the guy from the passport desk had disappeared.

Crap.

I saw that the other attendant was finishing up with her customer.  A quick glance at the line showed another 10+ people in line.

You know exactly what I did.

You'd have done the same thing.

I ran back across the room and got back in front of the guy who was behind me and beat him to the desk.

Don't judge, I wasn't cutting.  I was simply claiming my right to purchase stamps next.

Anyway... I know the older man was just trying to be nice, but it definitely caused me a bit of anxiety, which the post office already does anyway (Are there any explosive materials in your package today? Seriously?).

Since I was already at the post office, I brought our Christmas cards to mail off.  I went into the room with tables in order to put the stamps I had just purchased on the envelopes.  As I walked up to the mail slot, I noticed the writing above it:

Domestic Mail Only.

Crud.

I had a Christmas card to send international and I had no intention of waiting in line -- again -- just to mail a card to my friend in Germany.  So I dug through 45 cards and pulled hers out.  I then mailed the other 44 and took the card bound for Germany with me and got in my car.  I drove to the big blue mail boxes in front of the facility and dropped it in.

Isn't that the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard?