Patience, young Padawan

It’s funny to see a package to be delivered by USPS reach the destination facility, only to be diverted away. The package is in San Francisco, I’m in San Francisco, why then did it go up towards Eureka? Some intrepid sorter must have put my purchased item into the wrong bin. Granted, the thing I bought is rather small. I’d be amazed if, say, a television set would have gotten erroneously diverted. The post office is footing that fuel bill, not me.

Good news though: the package has since diverted back to San Fransisco, and I should be getting it today. God willing.

It goes back to the my main theme of 2023: have patience. The lack of patience have time and time again prove to be detrimental. Speeding up the process (the illusion of it, anyways) instead of letting things take their natural course have led to some huge mistakes. Like that time I wiped a whole hard-drive with user data - and no backup whatsoever to support that mistake. I’ve seen the lack of patience cause my friend to get physically injured. It can be quite pernicious.

The hubris is in that we think we can control the future. That getting to the desired outcome as quickly as possible will (finally) make us happy. What we need to remember is that’s a never-ending hamster wheel. You’re always going to be looking towards some future event for satisfaction, one after the next. Let’s say your impatience did get you the result faster: you’ll only be momentarily happy before something else on your list of wants need fast-forwarding.

I was for a split second annoyed that my package was not coming on the originally specified day. But I reminded myself it’s going to be okay to wait the extra few days. The boost of joy from receiving the thing is vanishingly ephemeral.

View fullsize

Giving life.

Shipping tip

A quick word of advice: before you head to the local post office/Fedex/UPS location to ship a package, make sure it is prepaid and ready to go. That way, you can skip the long lines and simply drop off the package at the counter. You’ll thank me later for the massive time saved.

Yesterday, I had to ship a package to a friend via USPS, and the service line snaked out of the post office and down the block. Of course, the need for social-distancing probably caused the line to appear longer than it really is, but I would say there’s still significantly more people than a typical year. Due to COVID, the demand for shipping presents this holiday must be tremendous. In lieu of being able to gather, you’ve now got to ship presents out to multiple places. No wonder the wait at the post office is so long.

I had to drop off a package at Fedex as well, encountering a similar situation. Honestly, I did feel a slight smugness, being able to walk pass everyone in line and put the package down at the front desk. Caveat: you’ll have to be okay with not getting a receipt. There isn’t a clerk there to print one out for you. If you insist on a receipt, maybe because it’s a particularly expensive item, then you’ll have to wait in line like the rest of them.

Kudos and shoutout to everyone working in logistics. Surely it’s been tough year, with people buying stuff online more than ever before. The workload right now must be crazy, since everybody is buying presents as well and shipping them out. Despite that, I am still getting my Amazon Prime packages in the promised two days. A great testament to the efficiency and skill of workers and machines.

Healthcare professionals deservedly get most of the publicized glory, but delivery personnel should get a lot of the credit as well for keeping this whole thing together.

View fullsize

Pugnacious BM.

Morning post office run

This morning I walked to my local post office. I could have done the millennial thing and hailed an UBER to go the measly five blocks, but I decided to do like our ancestors did: on foot. Dangerous times, this.

It reminds me of this past week, when I remarked to my friends how when we travel, we have no problems walking long distances to things, but when we’re back on home turf, going a few blocks seems like such a chore. I’ve been tremendously guilty of this, obviously; back in the days when I had a car to drive regularly, I totally would have driven the few blocks today to the post office. Good thing nowadays my only car is parked at work, not so easily reachable.

Every time you think the U.S. Post Office is a failing enterprise, you’d change your mind immediately once you enter one, because it’s almost always full of people. I got lucky today as there was nobody in line when I arrived; soon as I settled in waiting however, four additional people showed up. Naturally, there’s but one clerk working the counter, and only one hour away from their mandatory(?) lunch break whereby the entire office closes.

I reckon the USPS will survive just fine. Perhaps like an Olive Garden making its guest wait - even with empty tables - for the sole reason of increasing appetite, the post office provide somewhat shitty counter service to keep us coming back. A place with long lines can’t be that awful, right?

Taking the half-hour walk was a good opportunity to soak in some sun; I work at the basement level of the campus library, so vitamin D can be difficult to come by. Along the way, as one does in San Francisco, I saw a dude pissing in public towards the garage door of a house. My first thought was how awful it must be for the owner of the house: imagine returning home to the stinking stench of urine as the garage door opens. My second thought was one of empathy for the “offender”; compared to Asia, there’s an utter lack of public toilets in American cities, and it’s a real health and infrastructure problem.

Why aren’t there public facilities on what is the main thoroughfare of our neighborhood? It shouldn’t be up to the stores and merchants to provide restrooms - for paying customers only. Maybe I’d hang out there more if there were public toilets, instead of only venturing there to go to the post office.

View fullsize

Ramen, kimchi, and seaweed: the lunch of champions.