Communication, People!

I have ordered a replica of a medieval eating knife and pricker, and because it’s a knife, it requires a signature with ID to receive it. When I get home from work, there is an attempted delivery slip in my mailbox. I grab it and head to the post office and wait my turn.

Employee #1: “Oh, this is from today. I don’t think he’s back yet. Let me check.” *Checks* “Yeah, he’s not back yet. He’ll try again tomorrow.”

Me: “Starting tomorrow, I’m working twelve-hour shifts, so I’ll miss both the delivery window and your lobby hours. Can you call the mail carrier and ask him to swing past my house again on his way back to the post office?”

Employee #1: “No, we can’t do that. Come back at like 5:30.”

Me: “Aren’t you closed then?”

Employee #1: “Yeah, but people will still be here. Just ring the buzzer.”

I go home and start fixing dinner. A little after five, I leave and go back to the post office. The lobby is closed, as expected, so I ring the buzzer. And wait. And ring the buzzer again. A different person comes to the door, and I present the missed delivery slip again.

Employee #2: “Oh, he’s not back yet. He probably won’t be back until, like… 7:30. Here, write your phone number down and we’ll call you when he gets back. And go ahead and show me your ID and sign this to save time.”

Me: “Can you call him and ask him if he can just try again at the end of his route?”

Employee #2: “No! No, we can’t have him deviate. Just write down your number and we’ll call.”

I’m mildly uncomfortable that he’s asking me to sign the slip and leave it with him without collecting the package.

Me: “Um. Okay.”

I head home and get on with my evening. An hour later, there’s a knock at the door. It’s my mail carrier, parcel in hand, waving my missed delivery slip!

Carrier: “Hey, next time just call the station and they can call me and let me know to stop by again.”

Me: “Huh, I asked them to do that… twice. And they said it wasn’t allowed.”

Carrier: “That’s… weird. Oh, and you can’t just sign the slip and leave it.”

Me: “The guy… The guy at the post office told me to?”

Carrier: “Ah. Yeah. He got hurt; that’s why he’s there.”

My mail carrier is awesome, and I got my sweet replica knife, but… yeesh.