Mail

  When I moved into my apartment in 2010, our mail boxes were located inside the building's front door. Each apartment had their own box.  Each apartment had their own key.  My box's lock was broken.  I had asked the apartment manager to fix the lock, but they weren't good about doing it.  After all, the manager's office was across town on Fort Jackson Blvd., and they never came out to our place.  We had to mail our rent checks to that office.  Stuff just never got fixed.  That also explained the science experiment that they were growing in the swimming pool.  

 So, back to the mail box.  The carrier would put my mail in my box and shut the door, even though the lock was broken.  He understood that our management was slack.  One day, we got a new mail carrier.  He wouldn't put my mail in my box, because the lock was broken.  If I was there, I could catch him and get my mail.  However, if I wasn't there when the mail came, I wouldn't get any mail, because he refused to put it in the box.  My apartment was about 50 feet from the box.  He could have easily knocked on my door, but he didn't care.  One time when I was there, he gave me a tub of mail that he had in the back of his truck that had gathered over a week.  What about bills?  What about important correspondence?  He didn't care.  I asked him why he put mail in boxes that houses had on the street with no locks, and he told me that was different.  Fighting the post office was very stressful.  Not getting mail was very stressful.  Trying to be logical with them was even worse.  

 Our post office was a mile away, if one walked through neighborhoods.  After pulling out my hair over this situation, I decided to get a post office box at the branch rather than dealing with the bureaucracy.  I walked to the post office three times a week to get my mail.  It was good exercise, but it was also very frustrating.  Eventually, the apartment manager "got around" to fixing the lock on my box, and I could give up the post office box.  This ordeal lasted nine months.  Having to do two change of address forms during that time was even worse.  They say you can't fight city hall.  The post office is worse.