United States Postal Service - Fail

Since 2020 and the COVID mess Mrs. Cedar has worked remotely from home Never Mind the plus and minus spread sheet of benefits and disappointments. FedEx has our home as a daily stop as does UPS. But the US Mail aka United States Postal Service delivers little more than junk mail most the of the time.

Every once in a while a certain piece of mail that is important shows up in the 6 times a week heads up USPS email showing our incoming mail. 

Inevitably the mail never makes it to our home. It's across the street or two blocks away at the same street number and many days there is no mail at all, never mind the notice that says you have incoming mail aka coming to you soon message. 

But gone are the days of "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" my carrier a Somalian refugee drives like a madman and speaks no English as he races from box to box often doubling back because he missed a house or parcel.

I joke with neighbors that the only English he knows is "look at me I'm the captain now".

Sadly with no mail for 3 days straight last week I decided I better ask via email what happened to my new captain?

The response was well troubling:

We sincerely apologize for the recent disruption in your mail service and appreciate your patience during this time.

Due to the recent holiday, combined with your regular carrier being on vacation, and an ongoing shortage of vehicles and staffing, our delivery operations have been temporarily impacted. As a result, we are currently operating at limited capacity, focusing on the delivery of packages only until full service can be restored.

We understand that this situation is unacceptable, and we deeply regret any inconvenience it has caused. This is not the standard of service we strive to provide, and we are doing everything possible to stabilize operations and resume normal delivery as quickly as possible.

Please know that our team is working diligently to address these challenges and ensure your mail service returns to the reliable level you expect and deserve.

Thank you again for your understanding, and we truly appreciate your continued trust in the United States Postal Service.

Sincerely, 

the United States Postal service

I get it times change.

Gone are the days of generational legacy I have a cousin who was a mail carrier and then postmaster in rural Laurens, South Carolina he was heart broken when his son became a pilot for FedEx.

Gone are the days of uniformed carriers that we knew perhaps not by name but with a certain familiarity just the same as if their names were all "Cliff".

Actor John Ratzenberger as Cliff Clavin - Cheers

Post offices where once the bastion of order and were always spotlessly clean. Today they are somber and decrepit. Gone are the FBI wanted posters and uniformed staff.

Add to the above mail thieves.

Like these two riding a scooter through my neighborhood a few weeks ago at 4:00 AM. They skipped my house but stopped at a neighbor who tends to travel a lot have let mail pile up for days. 

When I report this concern and my suspicion to the local post office I get a reply that they haven't had any recent theft reports and it is probably nothing. 

Seriously how would anyone know since their mail never shows up when expected anyway.