MessageI once saw on Discovery Channel that packages send via the postal service should be able to withstand 20 kilos/40 pounds in weight. That's why we started using PVC tubes that can even carry my (almost) 100 kilo weight. Of the last 5 orders we received 3 were damaged. The two main problems we often encounter are damage due the tubes being crushed and/or shifting of the posters during transit. All have a great weekend! Ron
----- Original Message ----- From: Eric Melanson To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, February 11, 2010 12:04 AM Subject: [MOPO] The Illusion of Care and Service at USPS I read these posts about the triangle boxes and toilet paper tube mailers with a chuckle and it brings me back to my old days as what was known as a "casual" working for the Postal System to pay my way through college with summer work. It paid well, and I worked from 2:30 AM to 9:00 AM. People maintain the illusion that there is some higher presence watching over every letter and parcel they have committed to the care of the US Postal Service. Nothing could be farther from the truth. As a rookie, I unloaded trucks at 3 AM with both letters and parcels. My boss, a "supervisor of mails" (think of that title, if you will), stood watching me while I had 15 minutes to unload a delivery truck stacked 6 foot high with parcels and canvas letter bags. When I first started working, I would notice parcels marked "Fragile" and "Handle with Care" and I was under the illusion that this was actuallly read and acted upon. I was yelled at and threatened with firing if I did not take every parcel and toss it into a canvas roller tote set 8 feet away in a very short time. Many was the time that I heard what sounded like a glass item or set of dishes break when they hit the cart or the pavement. Every thing was treated the same no matter what was written on it. Along with that truth was the interesting way that people, at least in those days, packed up items. During this same unloading, a number of packages were leaking fluids when unloaded ( this included boxes of stuff used to inseminate cattle...you get the drift). People often packaged oversize items such that the item was uncovered on both ends (like umbrellas) with no packing paper. Some packages smelled so bad we had to leave them outside, and sometimes we just literally threw them out when the flies were too bad. Others dropped off packages beautifully wrapped as gifts to send through the mail..bows, adornments, sequins, etc. Then we come to the truly bizarre. Packages that in the address section carry a half-nude picture of the sender vs. an address label. Packages in a foreign language that no one in our postal office could read or translate and which we could not figure out how they made it to a small post office in central Connecticut. Parcels adorned with religious symbols. Ashes of the deceased sent through the mail ("contents inside from dead loved one"). To this, add the fact that we had to collect from post office boxes often subject to pranks containing...well, I won't go there. For amusement, some of the letter sorters would hold letters from the Department of Health up to a fluourescent light to see if they knew the person receiving the notification of a socially transmitted disease. They identified quite a few leaders in the community. Welcome to the US Post office. To this day, it amazes me that things I mail ever reach their destination. Eric Melanson Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
