Up Service Prices

Now that all the US Post Offices are closed for the weekend, with few exceptions, I’ll remind you that the Forever 42 Cent Stamp will be never more come Monday, May 11th. Okay, not a big deal. Just fork over an extra two cents for the first class letter. Besides, who sends out that many letters anyway?

Apparently my sister, Jennifer, does.

Remembering at quarter ‘til twelve on Saturday, that the price to mail a letter rises 5% (That’s not much, but wouldn’t you like your retirement portfolio do so well?), my sister dashed down the road to the Post Office before it closed at noon. In the little rural Post Office located on Route 9, she found two other people cued and waiting. No one was behind the counter. The clock was ticking. In the mysterious recesses which every post office is mandated to have, she heard the shuffling of letters being deposited into the little metal cubicals that line the walls.

A few minutes passed. One patron coughed.

“Is someone out there?” Drifted a muffled voice from the mandatory recesses.

My sister and the person ahead of her, looked to the person at the head of the line, giving him the unspoken responsibility to answer the voice.

“Ah, yeah?” He called out. “Maybe there should be a bell on the door,” he whispered.

“Oh Hello." The post mistress said coming around the corner. “May I help you?”

From the head of the line, “I need a book of stamps.”

“We don’t have any.”

“What?” My sister squeaked.

By now a forth person joined the line, a big lumberjack of a dude, from Harlem maybe? “What’s she mean she ain’t got no stamps? Don’t she print’em here? Like the banks prints money?”

My sister checked her laughter. Taking a quick look at him, she suspected he was serious.

“If you have a letter to mail, I can stamp it for you. But I am all out of stamps.”

“Must be a run on the Post Office. Like them failing banks.”

“I need stamps. Is there another Post Office open somewhere?” my sister asked.

“There’s a Post Office on Washington Ave. It’s open until 2. I can call to see if they have any.”

My sister made the trip into town to buy all the stamps they had. That was $630 worth of stamps. She would have bought more if they had them.

I do all my bill paying, banking and most correspondence on line. Recently I had to mail a couple of forms back to my financial planner and a change of address form to the IRS. I told them I moved out of the country. I don’t know how long it would take for me to go through 1500 stamps. I’m guessing forever. When Jennifer says forever, she means it.

You can still get the 42 cent stamp on line if you hurry. It will cost $1.00 (regardless of the quantity you purchase) for handling. I don’t know why? After all , isn’t the postman coming by on Monday with a stack of bills anyway?

I ordered $82.00 worth. I figure that will last me for “my forever”. If not, I know where I can get a few stamps