Signed, Sealed, Undelivered

I was thinking today about friends of mine, how when an exciting new video game was coming they would wait outside the store until midnight when the game was released so they could be among the first to receive their copy.  Then they would anxiously fly home and station themselves in front of the TV, enthralled in the new game and all its secrets, striving to be the first to master it.  When the iPad came out, there were lines wrapping around Best Buy as people waited patiently (or not so patiently) to get their hands on this new device.  Special check out lanes were devoted solely to iPad customers, so the rest of us could go about our shopping and not be hindered by the endless crowd.  These stores, they anticipated their customers' needs and stocked up before the big release so their customers would head home happy.  This is not the case with the post office.

After a few months of waiting, the wedding invitations are finally back from the calligrapher.  Letters and numbers scrolled beautifully in chocolate brown ink, warmly welcoming friends and family to take part in our upcoming celebration.  The lettering done by hand to match the invitations we so carefully selected what seems like such a long time ago.  Envelopes I was willing to drive two hours each way to pick up this past Thursday.  I could not wait to get home, assemble my invitations, and send them on their way.  If only I had stamps.  "Not a problem," I think to myself.  "I'll just stop by the post office and pick some up."  I swing by the post office on the way home and stuff an envelope with a sample invitation so they can be weighed for correct postage.

When I get to the post office, the girl at the register just gushed over the gorgeous hand lettering.  Used to seeing so much machine-addressed correspondence, I don't think she figured people wrote things like this anymore.  She weighs my packed envelope and lets me know the regular first class stamp is not an option for me.  "Not a problem."  I say to the girl.  "How much will it cost?"  And this is when the trouble starts.

The post office has once again decided to raise the price of mailing a letter.  Now, I don't mail that many letters to begin with so typically I'm not bothered by this.  I buy the Forever stamps and don't usually have a problem. I don't mind the price increase because I already knew in advance I was going to have to buy more expensive stamps, so paying 65 cents instead of 64 cents is not a big deal.  The post office girl tells me about the price increase and asks when I plan to mail the envelopes.  I tell her that I plan to have everything out by the next day. That's when she lets me know that the price conversion is happening that weekend, so what I really need are the new, higher-priced stamps.  That's also when she lets me know that they do not actually have the new, higher-priced stamps.  I am completely baffled.  I just don't understand.  Surely I misheard her?  But no, she definitely does not have the higher-priced stamps, nor does anyone else.  She informs me the conversion people will be in over the weekend to make the changes and I figure Monday is just fine to send these invitations on their way so in the end its really not that big a deal.  So I say that since I'm there, can I get the two rose wedding Forever stamps so I can at least have everything stuffed and ready to go?  Well guess what else she doesn't have...  She did do me the kindness of locating another post office in the area that does have the wedding Forever stamps and has them put aside the number I need. I thank her and go on my slightly-disappointed way.

After having picked up the Forever stamps, I spend a few hours the rest of the weekend stuffing, checking, double-checking, and sealing all of those gorgeous envelopes and place them carefully in neat piles to be ready Monday morning.  I switch my shift at work to a later one so I can make an early-morning trip to the post office.  My plan is to pick up the new stamps and get those invitations on their way.  I check the local post office hours and arrive bright, early, and optimistic.  I chat with the woman next to me in line.  We overhear the post office clerk telling her current customer about the price change.  The woman next to me comments on it and I briefly tell her about why I'm making my post office trip this morning.  She wishes me luck as I proceed to the counter, inquiring after the new stamps.  Guess what still isn't in?  You got it - the new stamps.  I ask when she thinks they will be getting some and she has no idea.  The postmaster himself comes out to tell me about the situation. I tell him what I need the stamps for and he lets me know he's very sorry and the stamps are on back-order.  He hopes to have some by the end of the week.  The best he can offer is the wedding Forever stamps and a one-cent Tiffany lamp price changer.  Maybe if I'd gone for the Tiffany-themed wedding after all...  By this time my story has spread from the woman behind me in line to the rest of the little crowd in the post office.  They send me off with sympathetic looks as I try to stay strong and not dissolve into tears as I think of all those envelopes at home that will sit in their piles as they await their fate of postponed delivery and Tiffany table lamps.  If only people were as excited about postage stamps as they are about iPads, maybe my invitations would have stood a chance.