I’ve been a pretty active critic of the frequently spouted notion that government can’t do anything right. That criticism may diminish a bit after my latest trip to the post office.
So, it’s Saturday night, and Amy mentions that she needs 50 post card stamps to notify folks of our impending move and is thinking about heading to the post office to see if the stamp vending machines sell them. I tell her I’m in need of some beer anyway and that I’ll swing by the post office
on the way. I head out, get a 6-pack of Guinness, and head into the post office. We’re in luck, they sell the post card stamps out of the machine. $2.40 per 10-pack of stamps, and I have $18 in my wallet. I throw a $10 bill in the machine. The stupid thing doesn’t let you choose multiple packs. So I shrug, type in “D-1,” and it spits out my 10-pack of 24 cent stamps along with ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk, 7 of those dollar coins nobody ever uses.
No big deal, I’m just going to feed them back into the machine to get more stamps. But, as it turns out, the &$*#(&% machine doesn’t take dollar coins. The United States Post Office machine gives you change in a currency it will not accept itself. Just one of those little nuisances designed to raise your blood pressure a little bit. I’m just glad I was on a beer run at the time.
I’m a crisis therapist, Doug, so I’m always a little concerned when people say things like, “I’m in need of some beer anyway”… Did you want the beer, or did you really NEED the beer? ;)
It’s probably cheaper to make a machine that only gets rid of these dollar coins rather than one that would receive them,so it’s another case of our government saving us money!
Never fear, Matt — I just thought a beer at the end of the day would be nice. And it was even nicer after I spent the drive home contemplating the idiocy of the stamp machine design.
(When I say “need,” I think maybe my 2 year old is rubbing off on me. He wants for nothing, *needs* everything.)
The machine at my local PO takes those evil things–did yours have some signage listing “acceptable” coins? Or were they just dropping through (if yer coin don’t work in a vending machine, spit on it and try again)?