Going postal

Went to the post office during my lunch break. Holy shit, what a mess. The $.02 postage hike has everyone in a tizzy and there was a line out the door. I live in a state known for its high percentage of retirees. Our state fowl is the Snowbird. My point of view on the elderly in my almost-decade living here has become this: they can't drive, and generally are rude, unless Peanut is along, then they like to smile at him and make small talk with me about babies, etc.

I wan't particularly happy to be in a long line, but whatever. Everyone needs the new stamps and today is the day to get them. First off, the old geez behind me kept crowding me into the man in front of me. I hate hate hate having my personal space invaded. When he got so close, he bumped my purse, it took all I had not to ask him to quit trying to crawl up my ass.

One of the postal workers closed her window shortly after I got in line. I figured it was her lunch break, being noon and all. Then she said something to her coworker about going to the hospital because her husband was there. Apparently the shrivelled asshole at the end of the line didn't/chose not to hear because he launched into a tirade about W@l*M@rt and their practice of closing down lines that he's in. Hello? Husband in hospital. Oh, I know, she should wait to leave until she has personally given you a year's worth of free stamps and kissed your ass while at it, since you had to wait a whopping 10 minutes in line. It's not like you're retired and have the afternoon free. Oh wait, that's right, you might be late for the 4:00 Early Bird Special at the buffet.

Then another old idiot started in with another employee. He need some odd amount to mail his letters that meant some of them needed $.03 additional postage. Except there are no $.03 stamps, only $.02 And $.01. He wanted so many of these and so many of those then changed his mind, then got mad that the employee had to re-enter his purchase. So he starts in on how difficult that "higher math" is and all. OK, dude, lets see you work the computerized cash register. I'm sure it'll be super easy for you to figure out considering you grew up in the stone age. How about you shut your yap and let the poor guy do his job. The employee not-so-nicely explained that he was doing his best to help Old Dude and if he was happier with someone else, he could wait for the other employee to finish his purchase. At least that shut him up. That employee ended up helping me, so wise-ass that I am, when he asked if I needed anything else, I asked if he wanted me to hassle him about penny stamps.

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I can't stand when older people pull the stupid math comments. I used to hear them all the time when I worked retail and as a waitress. Sometimes I was having a bad day and had trouble with the math. Other times, it was the cash register. If you don't enter things in correctly, you get a clusterfuck that requires a manager to fix it. And managers, in general, aren't happy about it and make it clear. (Sears was horrible. Enter in your employee code, enter this, enter that, enter any discounts, make sure you tell it whether the item is taxable or not and in Connecticut, where I lived, certain clothing items were non-taxable while others were taxable...and customers get very unhappy when charged tax on a tax-free item.) Yes, there are some in my generation and younger that can't add or subtract without a calculator and it's a shame. And I get annoyed when in a situation with someone who can't count my change back, but I try to be polite. I may bitch about it later on, but I don't try to embarrass them. It doesn't mean we're stupid and it doesn't mean we all can't do it. I worked a summer on an ice cream truck. Guess what - there was no calculator or cash register in sight. By the end of that summer I was a pro at adding up penny and five cent candies along with sodas and ice creams of various prices and giving the correct change back. I may not be as fast as I was then, but I'm no idiot, either.