Smoke In The Burg

The USPS raised the rent on my PO Box I can't access

This cartoon was drawn for the FXBG Advance.

I was in Reykjavik when I got a note from one of my regular critics, taunting and accusing me of not doing my job because he wrote that there was a huge fire in Fredericksburg and I had missed it because I was out of the country. That’s the way I read it and apparently, I’m not allowed to go anywhere anymore.

The guy wasn’t specific and the way he described it was as if it was the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. As it turned out, it was a fire at Play It Again Sports, a shop that sells used sports equipment. The shop is two doors down from the local post office where I rent a box. I walk to it a few times a week. The smoke from the fire damaged several other stores and they’re all closed for the time being, including my post office.

When I told a friend I couldn’t get into my post office because of a fire, she said, “Maybe someone hates the Post Office.” I replied, “Yeah, but if this was an act of arson, it’s more likely the arsonist hates used basketballs.”

This fire isn’t normally the kind of thing I’d draw a cartoon about unless there was something scandalous about it. I think the person who sent me the note was just desperate to go after me for whatever reason. Now I’m curious if the person lives here. I do tend to get flipped off a lot in this town for unknown reasons. I also get yelled at by a lot of rednecks in large trucks, usually with “fuck you libtard.”

After I got home from my little Eurotrip (Scotty doesn’t know), I checked it out and yup, I can’t access my PO box. To get my mail, I’ll have to go downtown which will be a pain in the ass. I haven’t done it yet but I need to soon because I have a couple of prints to mail that were purchased by readers and I have to pick up all my checks so I can invoice my clients next week.

If you have sent me a Christmas card and I haven’t replied yet, that’s why.

But, this still was not a carton subject.

A few days ago, I received an email from USPS and it was about my PO box. No, it was not an email apologizing that I can’t access it. It was not an email telling me that they’re refunding a portion of my rental fees since I can’t access my box. It wasn’t even an evil saying “fuck you libtard.” It was an email telling me they’re jacking up the rental fee for my PO box that I can’t get into. NOW, we have a cartoon subject.

I didn’t think of it being a subject until a couple of days later, but I didn’t have my idea yet. Since I hadn’t heard anything from Martin until Friday evening, I thought we weren’t going to do a cartoon this week. Christmas week is usually one of the slowest news weeks of the year, but two things came in Martin was interested in having a cartoon on, though he said I could take the week off. Nope, I told him I had something else and I’d send it in a bit. I didn’t have an idea yet and didn’t even tell him the subject but when I did send it, he loved it.

I should note that while USPS pisses me off, as does UPS and FedEx, I love the people who work at my local post office. I’ve known them for about five years now and they’re amazing and have helped me out dozens of times. And, I enjoy talking to them. I think USPS pisses them off too.

I’m tired of everything going up every year. Every streaming service seems to do it yearly. Remember when Disney Plus was new and cheap? How about Peacock? It didn’t hurt to subscribe to them. Netflix seems to raise its fee yearly. YouTube TV, which I use, doesn’t just raise it a buck or two. This year, they raised it 14 percent which is a bunch of bullshit. I’m looking at alternatives.

Music note: I listened to the Verve and Pete Yorn.

Drawn in 30 seconds:

Timelapse:

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