Alternative Post Office

We're having mail issues in the Commonwealth

This cartoon was drawn for the FXBG Advance.

The Advance included a note with my cartoons this morning as it often does, and today’s said:

Mail delivery in our area — indeed, in the Commonwealth — is a problem. Don’t take our word for it. Take former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger’s word for it. Her work uncovered delays galore, and the state consistently rates as one of the worst in the country for mail delivery. So when the downtown post office recently shutdown for, well, whatever reason it was closed for, there was mumbling, but not much of an uproar. Clay certainly noticed, however.

This cartoon was inspired by my own grievances, and it’s the second time the local post office has pissed me off enough to draw a cartoon. Louis DeJoy has inspired others.

The first time was back in December, when they raised the rates to my mailbox and then shut down the branch containing that mailbox.

A business a few doors down from my local branch in College Heights caught fire, and the smoke damaged my post office enough to shut it down. This may not entirely be the post office’s fault, but it may be the landlord’s. How up-to-date are these buildings with fire codes?

I used to be able to just walk down the street and check my mailbox daily. Now, I have to take time off from work, get on a bus to the downtown post office, stand in a very long line, not just to mail stuff out, but also to pick up my mail, which means I have to wait while they search for it. One thing I hate to do is to keep people waiting when they order prints and books from me. I have one print waiting to go out now.

So, excuse me for being a little irked when after taking time away from work to get on the bus to check my mail and to ship out a print, only to find when I get to the post office that it’s closed for no reason. I went on Wednesday only to find it closed. The only explanation given in a note on the door was that it was closed for an “emergency.” What emergency?

I returned on Thursday only to find it closed again, but this time there was a note that listed “alternative” post offices I could go to. And my first thought was, “But this is my alternative Post Office. Plus, those “alternative” post offices don’t have my mail.

I didn’t go on Friday because I had too many deadlines. But the US Postal Service did send an email to the press, stating that the building was temporarily closed “because asbestos tiles were disturbed, and the Postal Service is bringing in certified environmental experts to test for any contamination before it is cleared for use by our employees and the public.”

They were inspecting for asbestos contamination. They didn’t find any. That doesn’t make sense.

If there was an asbestos contamination that made it too dangerous to be in the building, so they closed the office where you get counter service, then why was the lobby open? The part of the building where you can check your mailbox was open. Was the Postal Service’s idea to protect the employees, but fuck the customers?

Unfortunately for me, my mailbox is at the Chatham Heights location, which is still closed from smoke damage. That office is scheduled to reopen in March, but I was given other dates in the past, so I’m not in the mood to believe anything the United States Postal Service says.

Maybe they’re both closed because of contamination from Elon Musk’s kid’s boogers.

I have friends who work in my local post office, and I’m not upset with them. They didn’t do this. Sometimes, I think they’re more frustrated with the Postal Service than I could ever be.

Creative note: I drew this at Starbucks.

Music note: I listened to The Pixies.

Drawn in 30 seconds:

Timelapse:

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