In the pantheon of ridiculousness going on in this country, this may not rate highly, but it seems telling enough to share anyway. For the last two months, I’ve been selling my new book, The Tribes of Burning Man, through my website: taking payments through PayPal, signing the books, and mailing through out through the Post Office, which is cheaper than FedEx or UPS for one-pound books.
It’s gone pretty well so far, with the exception of a couple empty envelopes being delivered and the books never found, which I’ve had to replace out of my pocket. But then today, I got one of the books I tried to send to a customer in Colorado (only one of the two I sent that day, mind you) back from USPS, with two stickers on it.
One says “Surface Transportation Only” and has a picture of a plane crossed out, and the other reads, “We regret that your mail was not collected or is being returned to you due to heightened security requirements. All mail that bears postage stamps and weighs more than 13 ounces MUST be taken by the customer to a retail service associate at the Post Office.”
I already have to go to the Post Office when I send my book to other countries and fill out a silly little US Customs form, and I’m told by customers that the books sometimes get hung up in Customs holds for weeks. Now, they can’t even send a book to Colorado without freaking out that I may be a terrorist sending bombs? It’s a six-by-nice-inch softcover book, you idiots, do you really lack the technology to figure that one out? And will it really make a difference if I drop it at the Post Office myself considering that they don’t ask for ID or provide any other security anyway?
WTF?!?! OK, readers, thanks for indulging my little rant. Now back to your regularly scheduled news coverage.