No relief in sight for Quartzsite postal follies

A "quick trip to the post office," isn't in Quartzsite. As we mentioned in our last post, lines at the post office had gotten pretty long with the arrival of the snowbirds. We thought it had reached the pinnacle with 30 minute long queues. We were wrong.

On Monday the lines stretched from the service counter, into the lobby, around the corner into the farthest post box bay, down the full length, across the back, and halfway back to the main lobby. By conservative estimates there were 50 to 60 folks patiently (more or less) waiting to be served. Why stalwart postal employee Reuben hasn't had a heart attack is anyone's guess.

So what's the deal? We asked US Postal Service spokesman Peter Hass why the lines. Hass told RVing Quartzsite that the local post office is currently down in its compliment of counter staffers. "We are going through the process," of hiring more workers. How does that translate in terms of relief for the footsore and weary, yearning to be free of long ques and "call for mail" cards? That, says Hass, is impossible to say. All Postal Peter could promise was, "We are diligently working on it."

We also popped the worrisome question: Since the posted policy at the post office is that nobody can use "general delivery" for more than 30 days, and since there are no available post office boxes to rent, what happens when your 30 days are up? Hass said he checked with the local postmistress, and the word is, "Nobody is being told they can't receive general delivery mail after 30 days, so long as there are no boxes available for rent."

While we don't expect Santa to bring a new posty to Quartzsite, it may be that once the seasonal mailing rush is past, things will settle down. Meantime, it may be faster to drive down to Ehrenberg and buy your stamps. Remember, it's only 20 miles west.

'toon courtesy liddellgrainger.org.uk