Rural Post Office story (crime, loan, how much)

[gcberry]

I live part time in rural Maine and part time in a crime-ridden city in the mid-Atlantic. I came back to the city after a lengthy stay in ME and boy, was it a culture shock to once again experience crime (first-hand, as our house was burgled and ransacked), traffic, and people in a hurry to get nowhere. It took me an hour at the post office with a very rude clerk who made it a Day From Hell (after waiting 25 min in line) to mail a simple package. It made me reflect on my last day in Maine, just a week ago, when I had the following encounter at my local post office, located in a rural town (pop. 240):

I had gone to our rural post office to pick up mail from the PO Box, and told “H,” our postmistress, that I would not be seeing her until we return in January. In case our mail forwarding request back to our hometown was not going to work properly, I apologized in advance for the possible avalanche of mail she’d receive and have to hold aside for us, especially since we rented a teeny-weeny box that holds less than nothing.


“I'll tell you what,” she said, “how ’bout if I hold the mail for you until the middle of December, and then I send whatever comes to you here in Maine to your home town address?”


“That would be great, ” I said, “but how will I know how much postage to give you to do that?”


“Don’t worry about it,” H said, “I’ll cover it out of my own pocket, and you can pay me for the postage when you get back here in January!”

[brava4]

Nice, love that attitude. Thanks for sharing.

[brava4]

Can I ask where in Me?

[Bydand]

brava, that could be anywhere in small town Maine. That wouldn't surprise me anywhere I lived out there. Actually it wouldn't surprise me for the post Office where I am now (a small town in Michigan).

[brava4]

Originally Posted by Bydand

brava, that could be anywhere in small town Maine. That wouldn't surprise me anywhere I lived out there. Actually it wouldn't surprise me for the post Office where I am now (a small town in Michigan).

True, very true. It's nice to hear.

[Nor'Eastah]

Sure is great, isn't it!

Not long ago on this forum I related a story about our small local post office here in RI, where the clerk "floated me a loan" for a parcel I mailed, until I got back with the cash (I'd left my wallet at home). I thought she was very generous!

I really hope that the post office I deal with in Maine will be just as accomodating, just as rural, just as folksy. Hereabouts, the postal people know all of us on a first-name basis. It would be a real shame if the USPS made good on its threat to close many of the smaller offices!

[brava4]

The people working in my post office are generally grumpy.

[AustinB]

Originally Posted by brava4

The people working in my post office are generally grumpy.

Now wait just a second... I don't work at your post office...

[dmyankee]

Originally Posted by brava4

The people working in my post office are generally grumpy.

Originally Posted by AustinB

Now wait just a second... I don't work at your post office...

I resemble that remark!

[Maineah]

That's touching..... until you find out that "H" gets fired this winter for holding mail that should have been forwarded and she decides to come back to the East Gish post office brandishing her hubby's illegal AK-47 and takes her revenge on the rest of the postal workers in the little hamblet of East Gish!!

Merry Christmas!!