I HATE USPS!!!

I have been lied to, I have been abused, tricked, and now I fear the package I sent won't get to it's destination.

I go up to the counter, and ask the lady if she has a box I can put things in to ship to South Korea. She tells me it will be really really expensive. So, I ask, how expensive? She punches some buttons on her computer, and the price $17-something shows up on the display in front of me. I didn't think that was too expensive, for sending something to the other side of the planet... but she tells me this is via "Priority" mail, and it would be WAY CHEAPER to instead go get one of the boxes against the wall and send using "normal mail," just paying for the box. So I ask, "but will it get there in the same time?" She says yes - I say, "so, it will be way cheaper to use this other method, and it will get there in the same time? (just to clarify)" She says yes again. So I go back there, pick out the smallest box I could find, and start assembling the box. But wait, where's the tape? There is another guy to my left with the same question. I tell him, "I will go and ask if we can borrow some tape."

This is where it turns bad. I go up to the nearest person at the counter - a big fat white man - and ask him (nicely!) if I can borrow some tape. The fucker then YELLS at me "YOU HAVE TO BUY THE TAPE!" This is a bellow, and it makes everyone in the whole post office look at us. "How much is the tape?" I ask. He bellows again "YOU HAVE TO BUY THE TAPE!" and he thrusts his fat arm and pointed finger in the direction of the wall where the boxes are, meaning the tape is over there. However, I persist, asking "Okay, how much are the boxes?" This time, thankfully, the previous woman speaks up and says the price is on the bottom, next to the bar-code. I turn the box over and see that it says $1.79, and I think, oh this is cheap -- and even with the tape it can't possibly cost more than the $17-something for priority shipping. I am not happy about the guy yelling at me - twice! - but I am estimating a ballpark figure of $10 savings by doing it this way. I go back, get the tape, assemble the box, put the stuff in it, tape it up, and write the address on it - which took a while because I am not fast at writing in Korean. With it all assembled, and the extra tape in-hand (I used like 1% of the roll), I go back to the counter to actually mail it. I got a different lady this time; the previous had left, and thankfully the fat man also had left. The new lady was very nice, as if to make up for the fat man's rudeness, and very quickly told me the cost would be $19.38, with the tape. What!? I thought that doing it this way was cheaper than priority! I didn't say that to her - I should have. I paid, but then asked if there was any way to know for sure when it arrives. She then told me that with "Priority" they track it and I can know when it arrives, and also it will get there much faster with Priority, and if it goes missing there is insurance included with Priority -- but none of that for the way I am shipping it. My jaw dropped. I was speechless. Dumbfounded. The first woman I talked to told me "Priority" is more expensive, doesn't get there any faster, and didn't even mention insurance! But there was nothing I could do -- I had already paid with my debit card - paid a higher price! The only thing I could do was leave, and hope for the best. And fume.

Given the huge difference between "Priority" and regular, and the fact that Priority includes insurance, I am now really afraid that my package won't even reach it's destination.

Oh, and the last lady mentioned something else as well, while describing how long it will take to get there. She said that the Department of Homeland Security may cause it to take longer, because they may want to check what's inside. I didn't say anything in response to this, but I am thinking, Excuse me? What reason could ANYONE have to snoop through the contents of my mail? That's an invasion of privacy -- it doesn't matter in the least what might be in that box. (no worries, there is nothing bad in it!) But even if there was something bad in it, they have no right to open my mail.

I am so upset right now. I hope that fat-ass loses his job. I really hope that package actually gets there.