BUSTED by the Mail Art Police Part 2

[Monster A GoGo]

Today, I headed to the post office with my note from the Mail Police. (See previous post about that here: https://iuoma-network.ning.com/profiles/blogs/well-i-got-busted-by-... ) 'Josh,' the person I was supposed to see about my postal crimes, was (Gasp!) not in today. The local yokel manning the front desk informed me that he was "well aware of the situation," and walked to the back to get the offending Mail Art. 

He came back with the two most-recent pieces I had mailed. He tried to be nice about it, but really? The Mail Art was outside the size of a standard envelope--which I already knew. He was trying to tell me that, because of this, they would have to be sent as parcels instead of standard mail. The one destined for North Carolina would cost about $5 to send and the one to Greece about $15. They must have been sniffing envelope glue if they think I was going to pay that much to mail my simple envelopes. They are not worth that much. 

But... I still needed to get them back.

I said I could, perhaps send them in manila envelopes. He said no, that wouldn't work as they are stiff and non-pliable, unlike envelopes of regular paper. They would not go through the sorting machines -- and the one to Greece would require a customs form. (For what? It's nothing but paper, glue and some marker. Geez!) 

That all seemed very bogus to me. Hadn't they ever heard of 'hand canceling' mail? And other people send non-pliable things in manila envelopes. It's not that unusual.

It was obvious that I was not going to pay the extra $20 bucks they wanted me to cough up for the two envelopes, so he agreed to hand them back to me.

'They got pulled and were not put in the mail stream,' he said. 'If they had been put in, they'd have to be sent and the receiver would have to pay the extra postage.'

I kind of doubt that. Four of the nine pieces I had sent have now been acknowledged as having arrived at their destination. (The latest being one to West Virginia.) No one (not even the one to the U.K.) mentioned anything about postage due.

I got the two letters and envelopes back, thank goodness. I realize they are just doing their job and I live in a very small town. 

But I also have a Plan B up my sleeve. 

I have medical appointments off of the island and a few trips planned in the near future (one road trip throughout Washington and another trip back to California). Instead of mailing anything else from here, I will just save them and mail them from elsewhere. I'll still not put a return address on anything...but, while I'll still number them, I'll also refrain from 'signing' the back. (Perhaps I'll 'sign' them inside of the envelopes...)

THANK YOU to all who commented on the last post. You had great suggestions and I appreciated the input.

Hopefully Plan B works. Hmm...

CHEERS!

[Monster A GoGo]

Oh man... I am soooo LAME! How did I NOT see these comments before? I was new and all, but...

Coco:  Yes, I totally identify with your postal adventures. They sound like MY post office. (Although I think of mine as being in Hooterville as opposed to Mayberry.) Thanks for sharing.

Carien:  Hi there. It was soooooo NOT this difficult to mail things back in the day. The things I got away with sending... Oh MY! Now, I feel like a criminal when I drop things in the mail box in another city! Ha!

Bradford: Plan B has more or less been successful. Things still do NOT always arrive where I send them, but the out-of-town post offices don't know me and my mail does NOT come back to haunt me. I do use more postage than necessary--because I realize I have things going beyond the envelopes. But thanks for the tip.

[Coco Muchmore]

I never (hardly ever) mail from my local Perry, Kansas, Post Office. (Think Mayberry...)

I make the trip to Lawrence, Kansas, about 12 miles away to the outgoing drive-through box. The difference in arrival time is anywhere from 5 to 20 days. I do put a return address on, though. 

At Perry, they used to have this wild, blind old woman sorting the mail... Everyone was getting the wrong stuff in their box--I mean it was WELL known. When you would take it in to the counter to hand back and make the point (many occasions), she would say, "Oh thanks, honey."

And I would say, "I'm worried about the stuff addressed to me that's going into someone else's box." 

She would answer, "Oh no, don't worry about that, honey. Everyone just puts it back in the outgoing mail box or hands it over the counter." F-ing CLUELESS, I'm telling you, and I DID lose a paycheck one time (before online banking). Had to get a re-issue sent certified. 

She's been retired, but the gist is about the same with fewer outright mistakes. They have remarked at the fun mail I have received in the past year. They seem to enjoy it, too. Eye roll.

Feel free to send some monster-y thing or two our way!

[Carien van Hest]

We live in a nasty world where human actions sometimes don't go together with standardized machines. And the machines are winning!

thanks for this story, please send me something WEIRD :)

[Bradford]

Plan B is worth a shot!  In your defense, you applied two (2) Forever stamps @ 58¢ each or $1.16 in valid postage.  The nonmachinable charge is 30¢ or a total of 88¢ so you overpaid by 28¢.  In short, the clerk is a jerk.  The Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) in effect is dated January 9, 2022.