7 ms·

Moving to Argentina has given me a newfound respect for the USPS - their reliability, sense of duty, and their humanity. In many ways they are a representative

by inaka 17y ago

Moving to Argentina has given me a newfound respect for the USPS - their reliability, sense of duty, and their humanity. In many ways they are a representative slice of America - flawed but generally reliable, hard working, and flexible. Losing things in the mail, spending hours waiting in line to pick up a package, christmas presents delayed for three months for no apparent reason, all of these experiences down here make me miss those guys.

davidw 17y ago
In Italy, you can't sent a package without tying a &&(* string around it.
- jodrellblank 17y ago
  Your comment triggered previously unsuspected knowledge of cartoon swearing, making me suspicious that your censoring is both too short and containing two ampersands next to each other, which just isn't on (apparently - who am I to argue with my subconscious?). On a closer look, one of your ampersands appears to be italicised, suggesting your original typing was two characters longer and more even, which would make it look more typical. HN's markup doesn't seem to have been designed with cryptoswearing in mind.
  - davidw 17y ago
    The great thing about "crypto swearing" is that it's a variable where the reader can insert a phrase he or she feels is appropriate for the phrase, without getting offended, or snickering at something not strong enough. For instance, in the above phrase, you could use anything from "dad burned", to "gosh darned" to "god damn motherfucking".
ryanwaggoner 17y ago
What's been your experience of living down there otherwise? Also, is Fedex or something similar an option?
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
mrtron 17y ago
I loved the daily show bit about how the government can't efficiently run health care - he mentioned how the USPS can deliver a letter across the country in a few days for a few cents. It really is an impressively efficient distributed system considering the hassles involved, specifically the diversity of items as listed in this article!
- solutionyogi 17y ago
  I hope you realize that it doesn't really cost few cents. The taxes paid by us keeps USPS running. FYI: USPS lost 2.8 billion dollars in 2008.
  - sachinag 17y ago
    The USPS operates under an insane number of constraints that private competitors don't. They have to serve every single residental address in America, no matter how remote (UPS, and especially FedEx, laugh at this); they have to have outposts in bumblefuck nowhere; they have to offer six days of service even though volumes don't support it; fixed rate pricing for First Class letters even from/to the most remote destinations; and so on, all under their universal service obligation. Furthermore, the postal service is mandated by the United States Constitution (Article I, section 8, Clause 7). Look, it's like criticizing Amtrak. It's under congressional (although not Constitutional) mandate to run all those dumbass routes with stops in the middle of fucking nowhere on tracks where the freight companies are blatantly ignoring the law that requires passenger trains to have right of way. No wonder Amtrak's losing money and are late all the time; they're not allowed to do their jobs.
    - yummyfajitas 17y ago
      The postal service is permitted, not mandated, by the constitution. "The Congress shall have power to...[long list] To establish post offices and post roads..."
      - sachinag 17y ago

by inaka 17y ago

davidw 17y ago

In Italy, you can't sent a package without tying a &&(* string around it.

jodrellblank 17y ago
Your comment triggered previously unsuspected knowledge of cartoon swearing, making me suspicious that your censoring is both too short and containing two ampersands next to each other, which just isn't on (apparently - who am I to argue with my subconscious?). On a closer look, one of your ampersands appears to be italicised, suggesting your original typing was two characters longer and more even, which would make it look more typical. HN's markup doesn't seem to have been designed with cryptoswearing in mind.
- davidw 17y ago
  The great thing about "crypto swearing" is that it's a variable where the reader can insert a phrase he or she feels is appropriate for the phrase, without getting offended, or snickering at something not strong enough. For instance, in the above phrase, you could use anything from "dad burned", to "gosh darned" to "god damn motherfucking".

ryanwaggoner 17y ago

What's been your experience of living down there otherwise? Also, is Fedex or something similar an option?

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]

mrtron 17y ago

I loved the daily show bit about how the government can't efficiently run health care - he mentioned how the USPS can deliver a letter across the country in a few days for a few cents. It really is an impressively efficient distributed system considering the hassles involved, specifically the diversity of items as listed in this article!

solutionyogi 17y ago
I hope you realize that it doesn't really cost few cents. The taxes paid by us keeps USPS running. FYI: USPS lost 2.8 billion dollars in 2008.
- sachinag 17y ago
  The USPS operates under an insane number of constraints that private competitors don't. They have to serve every single residental address in America, no matter how remote (UPS, and especially FedEx, laugh at this); they have to have outposts in bumblefuck nowhere; they have to offer six days of service even though volumes don't support it; fixed rate pricing for First Class letters even from/to the most remote destinations; and so on, all under their universal service obligation. Furthermore, the postal service is mandated by the United States Constitution (Article I, section 8, Clause 7). Look, it's like criticizing Amtrak. It's under congressional (although not Constitutional) mandate to run all those dumbass routes with stops in the middle of fucking nowhere on tracks where the freight companies are blatantly ignoring the law that requires passenger trains to have right of way. No wonder Amtrak's losing money and are late all the time; they're not allowed to do their jobs.
  - yummyfajitas 17y ago
    The postal service is permitted, not mandated, by the constitution. "The Congress shall have power to...[long list] To establish post offices and post roads..."
    - sachinag 17y ago