Proud Member of The Moms Clean Air Force
Print This Post
Aug
26
WLST outpostals the postal workers
Filed Under Politics | 9 Comments
Well, you know, you just shouldn’t mess with a woman on the verge. What more can I say?
So, I’m in the Landerbrook post office, it’s Saturday, 3:30pm and I’m stamping like a mad woman because I should’ve gotten out the stuff I’m mailing two weeks ago, but everything needed to be perfect (perfect stamps, perfect paper – you know).
So, people – mostly men for some reason – flow in and out of the double set of double doors, feeling obligated to say hello or nod to which I’d say hello or nod back, unless I was head down peeling the self-adhesive Lady Liberties from their sheets.
[Which is a story in itself because the self-serve vending machine only takes cash, and I didn't have enough cash for all the stamps I needed, so I moved over to the machine that let's you weigh your own packages and it takes debit and credit cards, but it only allows you to charge up to $50 worth of stuff, so I had to use three credit cards to get everything I needed, which was over 300 stamps.]
And now and then I’m the only one in the P.O. And then I hear a shout from behind the wall. The wall through which you can deposit your mail, either through the typical slots with a little door and handle you can open for bigger quantities. AND a wall that has a big metal drum-roller contraption which is next to the ordinary slots.
Thus begins the Jill Goes Postal drama:
“Ma’am! Don’t you be puttin’ anymore regular mail in here, you hear me?!”
“But it says right here on the drum, ‘You may deposit….stamped domestic mail that weighs less than 16 ounces.’ That’s what I put in there.” [If you clicked on the link for seeing the drum, you can see the sign I saw on the bottom right. It's too small to read in the picture though.]
“I don’t care what it says.”
“I’m just following the instructions.”
“I’m just gonna tell you one more time. If you put mail in here, I can’t guarantee your mail is goin’ get anywhere. It don’t belong in here.”
Okay. I’m having yet another “let’s trick the good citizen moment.”
“Well, it says right here that this mail can go in here.”
“Lady, you can’t put no regular mail in here. It’s for the machine next to it.”
“But I bought the stamps from the machine next to it!”
“Look, lady. You don’t want your mail delivered you keep puttin’ it in there.”
“What’s your name?”
Gridiron metal cage door SLAMS down onto the floor.
“What’s you name?”
“You just wait. I’ll take care of that!”
About two to three minutes later, a woman walks out. Says she manages the place everyday starting at 4am and I’m the only person to ever misuse the drum.
Pahleeze.
She doesn’t try to tell me that yes, she can see that the signage sucks. No, she wants to insist that I am screwed and am screwing with them. As if the P.O. doesn’t already have us all by the cajones anyway?
“I read the directions. If I came in off the street, had a letter to mail, walked to the slots, walked to the drum, and read the instructions, the instructions indicate that I can mail my letter in that drum.”
To her credit, manager lady never raises her voice, she also doesn’t like that I’m insistent (I probably wouldn’t have either, to be honest).
“In all my years, you are the only one, ma’am, to not use that drum correctly. But you have pointed a flaw out to me and now, because of that, I’m going to put a sign up over the drum that says parcels only because that’s all it’s supposed to be used for.”
Well then why the f**k doesn’t the post office just make a sign that says that in the first place?
Way too easy, I guess.
And now, I’m sure, they have me on camera.
Not to worry – I took pictures of the sign.
And.
I have a blog.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:05 pm August 26th, 2006 in Politics | 9 Comments
Print This Post
Aug
26
WLST outpostals the postal workers
Filed Under Politics | 9 Comments
Well, you know, you just shouldn’t mess with a woman on the verge. What more can I say?
So, I’m in the Landerbrook post office, it’s Saturday, 3:30pm and I’m stamping like a mad woman because I should’ve gotten out the stuff I’m mailing two weeks ago, but everything needed to be perfect (perfect stamps, perfect paper – you know).
So, people – mostly men for some reason – flow in and out of the double set of double doors, feeling obligated to say hello or nod to which I’d say hello or nod back, unless I was head down peeling the self-adhesive Lady Liberties from their sheets.
[Which is a story in itself because the self-serve vending machine only takes cash, and I didn't have enough cash for all the stamps I needed, so I moved over to the machine that let's you weigh your own packages and it takes debit and credit cards, but it only allows you to charge up to $50 worth of stuff, so I had to use three credit cards to get everything I needed, which was over 300 stamps.]
And now and then I’m the only one in the P.O. And then I hear a shout from behind the wall. The wall through which you can deposit your mail, either through the typical slots with a little door and handle you can open for bigger quantities. AND a wall that has a big metal drum-roller contraption which is next to the ordinary slots.
Thus begins the Jill Goes Postal drama:
“Ma’am! Don’t you be puttin’ anymore regular mail in here, you hear me?!”
“But it says right here on the drum, ‘You may deposit….stamped domestic mail that weighs less than 16 ounces.’ That’s what I put in there.” [If you clicked on the link for seeing the drum, you can see the sign I saw on the bottom right. It's too small to read in the picture though.]
“I don’t care what it says.”
“I’m just following the instructions.”
“I’m just gonna tell you one more time. If you put mail in here, I can’t guarantee your mail is goin’ get anywhere. It don’t belong in here.”
Okay. I’m having yet another “let’s trick the good citizen moment.”
“Well, it says right here that this mail can go in here.”
“Lady, you can’t put no regular mail in here. It’s for the machine next to it.”
“But I bought the stamps from the machine next to it!”
“Look, lady. You don’t want your mail delivered you keep puttin’ it in there.”
“What’s your name?”
Gridiron metal cage door SLAMS down onto the floor.
“What’s you name?”
“You just wait. I’ll take care of that!”
About two to three minutes later, a woman walks out. Says she manages the place everyday starting at 4am and I’m the only person to ever misuse the drum.
Pahleeze.
She doesn’t try to tell me that yes, she can see that the signage sucks. No, she wants to insist that I am screwed and am screwing with them. As if the P.O. doesn’t already have us all by the cajones anyway?
“I read the directions. If I came in off the street, had a letter to mail, walked to the slots, walked to the drum, and read the instructions, the instructions indicate that I can mail my letter in that drum.”
To her credit, manager lady never raises her voice, she also doesn’t like that I’m insistent (I probably wouldn’t have either, to be honest).
“In all my years, you are the only one, ma’am, to not use that drum correctly. But you have pointed a flaw out to me and now, because of that, I’m going to put a sign up over the drum that says parcels only because that’s all it’s supposed to be used for.”
Well then why the f**k doesn’t the post office just make a sign that says that in the first place?
Way too easy, I guess.
And now, I’m sure, they have me on camera.
Not to worry – I took pictures of the sign.
And.
I have a blog.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 5:05 pm August 26th, 2006 in Politics | 9 Comments
Print This Post
Aug
26
WLST outpostals the postal workers
Filed Under Politics | Comments Off
Well, you know, you just shouldn’t mess with a woman on the verge. What more can I say?
So, I’m in the Landerbrook post office, it’s Saturday, 3:30pm and I’m stamping like a mad woman because I should’ve gotten out the stuff I’m mailing two weeks ago, but everything needed to be perfect (perfect stamps, perfect paper – you know).
So, people – mostly men for some reason – flow in and out of the double set of double doors, feeling obligated to say hello or nod to which I’d say hello or nod back, unless I was head down peeling the self-adhesive Lady Liberties from their sheets.
[Which is a story in itself because the self-serve vending machine only takes cash, and I didn't have enough cash for all the stamps I needed, so I moved over to the machine that let's you weigh your own packages and it takes debit and credit cards, but it only allows you to charge up to $50 worth of stuff, so I had to use three credit cards to get everything I needed, which was over 300 stamps.]
And now and then I’m the only one in the P.O. And then I hear a shout from behind the wall. The wall through which you can deposit your mail, either through the typical slots with a little door and handle you can open for bigger quantities. AND a wall that has a big metal drum-roller contraption which is next to the ordinary slots.
Thus begins the Jill Goes Postal drama:
“Ma’am! Don’t you be puttin’ anymore regular mail in here, you hear me?!”
“But it says right here on the drum, ‘You may deposit….stamped domestic mail that weighs less than 16 ounces.’ That’s what I put in there.” [If you clicked on the link for seeing the drum, you can see the sign I saw on the bottom right. It's too small to read in the picture though.]
“I don’t care what it says.”
“I’m just following the instructions.”
“I’m just gonna tell you one more time. If you put mail in here, I can’t guarantee your mail is goin’ get anywhere. It don’t belong in here.”
Okay. I’m having yet another “let’s trick the good citizen moment.”
“Well, it says right here that this mail can go in here.”
“Lady, you can’t put no regular mail in here. It’s for the machine next to it.”
“But I bought the stamps from the machine next to it!”
“Look, lady. You don’t want your mail delivered you keep puttin’ it in there.”
“What’s your name?”
Gridiron metal cage door SLAMS down onto the floor.
“What’s you name?”
“You just wait. I’ll take care of that!”
About two to three minutes later, a woman walks out. Says she manages the place everyday starting at 4am and I’m the only person to ever misuse the drum.
Pahleeze.
She doesn’t try to tell me that yes, she can see that the signage sucks. No, she wants to insist that I am screwed and am screwing with them. As if the P.O. doesn’t already have us all by the cajones anyway?
“I read the directions. If I came in off the street, had a letter to mail, walked to the slots, walked to the drum, and read the instructions, the instructions indicate that I can mail my letter in that drum.”
To her credit, manager lady never raises her voice, she also doesn’t like that I’m insistent (I probably wouldn’t have either, to be honest).
“In all my years, you are the only one, ma’am, to not use that drum correctly. But you have pointed a flaw out to me and now, because of that, I’m going to put a sign up over the drum that says parcels only because that’s all it’s supposed to be used for.”
Well then why the f**k doesn’t the post office just make a sign that says that in the first place?
Way too easy, I guess.
And now, I’m sure, they have me on camera.
Not to worry – I took pictures of the sign.
And.
I have a blog.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:05 pm August 26th, 2006 in Politics | Comments Off
Print This Post
Aug
26
(Actually, these facts aren’t that much of a secret, but it does make for a title that rhymes.)
I still don’t really know what Selichot is. It’s either a separate holiday or just part of the holidays that begin with the more commonly known Rosh Hashanah. It refers to the ten days (but it looks like it’s not ten days when I read what I’ve linked for readers – what do I know – I’ll learn) before Rosh Hashanah and it’s prayer, well, a special service done only at this time of year (just before Rosh Hashanah).
Having been raised in the Reform movement, I can’t remember ever hearing of Selichot before I went to Israel when it fell on the Sabbath I observed at an Orthodox home in the Old City, something that Chabad and other groups in Jerusalem help arrange. It’s quite the authentic experience, with loads of kids around, traditional garb and women not doing an awful lot of praying but mostly socializing (if you think JAPs are bad, honestly, you would not believe the gossipy nature of sitting in an enclosed balcony with 22 year old mothers of four children who are pregnant with their fifth and wearing unbearably heavy-looking wigs in 95 degree heat).
Anyway, I think I took a pass on Selichot, mostly because I didn’t have a clue about what it was, but I remember that, ever since then, I’ve heard about how it’s observed for days before the new year and so on. Something about helping you prepare to repent. I think.
Since joining a Conservative synagogue several years ago, once my oldest left Jewish preschool, I’ve always passed over the notices for Selichot services and ignored the mention on our synagogue’s calendar.
Until this year. So, people who are interested in outreach? Here’s a way to get a busy person intrigued and maybe even participating:
Last week, I received a simple brochure from my synagogue that didn’t look anything like an announcement for services (even though it clearly says “Please Join Us for Selichot 2006″).
What exactly was different? The presence of this on the cover of the brochure. As if going to services at a Methodist Church in the middle of Appalachia (don’t miss the part in there about the fire in ’81 that destroyed the schools; the years when the school was in trailers? those were the years I did work there) wasn’t enough to make me more Jewish, now Barbie is going to push me even further into my religion. Peter Coyote (always one of my favorite actors even when playing creeps but, I think, a bit underrated, kind of like David Strathairn (Matewan is one of my all-time favorite movies and John Sayles one of my all-time favorite directors) but not as good an actor ultimately as Strathairn) narrates and tomorrow, I’ll try to find time to scan and post the brochure itself.
But, unless something else intervenes, I have a date with Barbie for my first Selichot. I wonder what I should wear.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 2:18 am August 26th, 2006 in Politics | 1 Comment
Voted into Top 25 Political Mom Blogs
Now on sale-WLST essay included!
Posts About Pepper Pike City Council2010 WE Magazine 101 Women Bloggers to Watch
Category Specific RSS
Pepper Pike Cleveland+ Politics Women Ohio Elections Law Jewish
