Special Delivery
Remember last week when I lamented the loss of the stamp vending machine at the Glenridge post office? It’s systemic. I began to grow suspicious when the Roswell post office also had a new blank wall in the middle of the post office boxes, and according to Internet the machines are all going to be removed by 2010 or so. Apparently they weren’t very popular, and the being broken all the time feature made the machines expensive to maintain. USPS claims that the APC, Internet ordering and the ability to buy a big pile of forever stamps without worrying about rate increases—basically all the stuff my mom left in the comments to my earlier post—makes the machines obsolete.
I usually go to the post office before they open, so I find the lack of a vending machine inconvenient. The APC is difficult to use since it thinks in terms of individual articles of mail and I’d prefer that it trust that I know what I’m doing and just sell me units of postage. Also, it doesn’t take cash, so digging through the couch cushions for stamp money is out. I don’t want to order on the Web because paying postage while buying postage seems silly. As for the forever stamps, I’m still uneasy about them, and I really shouldn’t be. They don’t cost more than regular stamps, and the plan to tie postage rates more closely to the CPI reduces the tiny devaluation that these stamps would experience near the end of a new rate increase. I just keep thinking that they have a catch. It’s weird and new and I don’t like it.
So I bought some forever stamps. It was a total accident. I needed to buy a money order, and I figured I’d ask for a book of their finest stamps while at the counter. The receipt for a book of twenty still said $8.20, not that this would have helped since I keep thinking that stamps cost a cent more than they really do. I didn’t realize what I’d bought until I went to mail the letter. They have a drawing of the Liberty Bell and the word “forever” and something about being first class. As far as the design, I prefer the stamps that have the symbols of our ideals—the Liberty Bell or the Statue of Liberty or other libertyish things—over the regular first class stamps. The flag design seemed to coincide with an explosion of flags across the country following the 9/11 attack, and it seemed to provide a symbol that I wasn’t sure I totally agreed with. I hope these stamps don’t find a way to mess themselves up.
In all the loss of the vending machiens isn’t a big deal. I can get stamps anywhere: I can go to the post office during business hours, the grocery store sells them, and I think one of those buttons I always ignore on the ATM will dispense stamps. Stamps are no less available than before; I just hate having my routine uprooted by progress and being forced to plan a little ahead.