Earth Friendly Tip: Stamps Online Save Sanity Too

My favorite new stamp design

I remember when the mailman would deliver
an order form for stamps through the mail
every so often. As a busy mother, I loved that option.
In the past few years, I only see that in my mailbox
once or twice a year. And, they offer a small, and
most importantly, common {dull} selection. Pish Posh.

I was OK with that for a while because I liked
going to the Post Office in my small towns
and visiting with the clerks, perusing all
the new stamp designs and choosing my favorites.

The past few years I have lived in cities and
one would think the service and selection would
be at least as good as, if not better than, the
small town post offices can offer.

Like too many things that make absolutely no sense
with the passing of time, I was becoming
increasingly frustrated by my consistently disappointing
{that is so beyond mild, I deserve a halo, please.}
post office experiences.

I hope you're one of
the lucky ones, but, if, like me, you begin to
dread your next trip to the post office, or even if
you don't, I hope your life will be brighter in the
postage stamp arena of life
after you consider this.

Read on dear friend...


I decided to check out this ordering online option
because the post offices never had the stamp variety
that they advertise all over the walls with giant
promotional posters. Maybe if I never saw the
gorgeous stamp I wouldn't be so crestfallen.
But there they are. Larger than life. So pretty.

Sorry. We don't have those.
We ran out of those two days after we got them.
I have never seen that stamp in my drawer.
I don't know anything about what's on order
or when or if we'll ever have those.
They don't tell us anything.
Oh, those stamps aren't out yet.
***Gee, that seems highly unlikely as the issue date
{again, larger than life} is just last week.***
Oh, then they must be all gone. They're
not making those anymore.

Are you with me?
This is only the half of it.
Other reasons I cringe at the
thought of a post office visit:
Long Long Long Long Lines
5 stations, 2 clerks
clerks that argue with me about my envelope/package's postage
{which I already correctly calculated online}
clerks who take my handcrafted envelopes and
slap a metered postage sticker
haphazardly, so that it looks like
a 3 year old in a pitch black movie theater
placed it there. While watching the film.
And holding a 32 oz. sugary fizz-something.
All of this AFTER I specifically request
they just tell me the postage and I will
place my own stamps on the item.

There's also the limited hours of operation,
the abysmal parking scene, the weather...
and, even if you never have any of these
disheartening experiences like I do,
there's the environmental impact:
adding to traffic & pollution.
And your auto costs, energy & time.

And I haven't even touched on
the people in line. That would need
a book chapter.

If you're a germaphobe like me,
there's that, to avoid {like the plague,
I should say, no?} as well.

After reading just these few anecdotes,
you may be able to see that
my true fright is my head exploding.
And, honestly, we cannot have that.


Now for the beauty of online ordering:
It is pleasant & simple. Takes mere minutes.
You have every selection & option your heart desires.
You can do this in your jammies.
While eating lovely bon bons.
The shipping is a mere $1.00
NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU ORDER.
The stamps arrive in 2 days. Yes.
Look at the packaging. Sweet.
You have now avoided every
mind numbing bit of insanity
mentioned up above.
And there's more....



Perhaps my favorite aspect of this online ordering
is the recycling 'gifts'.
First of all, you have the fabulous
Tyvek envelope. So pretty & white, to boot.
Then you have all of those perfect
cellophane enclosed cardboard pieces.
They not only keep your stamps handy
& damage free, but you can reuse these
no end! For free. You never receive your stamps
in these at the post office.

It's a win.win.win. situation.
Try it. You'll like it.
And you'll save our pretty blue planet.
And your sanity.
Or at the very least, mine.

ox
joon