I know that the notion of treating the postal service as a truly public service, of a kind different than a muffler dealership or a tanning salon, has become so utterly behind the times that to utter a wish for the dignity of the institution to be restored is like wondering aloud about when the American automotive industry is going to roll up its sleeves and give us an affordable electric car.
However...something truly rankles when I'm standing in the Chelsea post office, waiting to do a bit of good-old-fashioned pay-for-it-at-the-counter first class mailing and, casting my eyes idly over the banners which inform me about various mailing and shipping options, I see...Mike Myers? In a costume already irritatingly familiar due to a blitz of subway ads? Telling me how Priority Mail can save me time and money? Joined on another panel by "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" carrying boxes? All hovering over a Seuss-style logo that chirps "SEE THE MOVIE!"
The delightful details behind the "partnership" that brought this about are here
Posted by BT at November 03, 2003 11:14 PM(this comment sponsored by the iTunes music store)
They still have post offices?
(iTunes Music Store: legal quality downloads for your every* musical need!
*meeting every musical need not guaranteed. See track lists for details. Offer void outside of the United States. Yes, even in Canada.)
Rock me, Doctor Se-uss.
Posted by: Rory on November 4, 2003 02:07 PMYou can send your pack-ackage
But don't expect us to care
(sometimes our clerks
won't acknowledge you're there)
If there's forms to complete
Do step out of line
But come back to the front.
Really, it's fine!
(This stands in for my previous too crass, too terse, too mis-pronounced "Twat in the Hat.")
Posted by: Scott on November 4, 2003 03:09 PMOh crap, I just remembered that BT's folks know this url.
Just call me Thing 1.
Posted by: Scott on November 4, 2003 03:10 PMIt's bad enough to see Theodore Geisel's work so shamelessly commercialized after his death (per his wishes), but there's something fundamentally wrong about Mike Myers hawking both movie and delivery on a post office poster, let alone a stamp. This looks like a last-ditch attempt to shake the money tree per Bush's Operation: Non-Defense Programs Left in the Dustheap program.
Posted by: Ed on November 4, 2003 05:37 PMIf your package
needs to be there
on a very certain day
and you bring it to the postman
but you're not sure what to pay
just consult this handy reference
affixed here to the wall
and despite the crass crossbranding
it'll be there by next fall.
Groovy, baby!
Crossing the country to our new home state of California, in circumstances too long to describe, we landed late in a Ramada Inn in Charleston, West Virginia, situated next to a slag heap by the river. Their summer tourism promotional spokesperson, featured on a standing cardboard cutout in the lobby was, as God is my witness, Mr. Bill.
Posted by: Jonathan on November 5, 2003 11:36 PMMr. Bill Clinton?
Ooooh nooooooo! Another big-haired intern!
Posted by: Scott on November 6, 2003 08:20 AMSpeaking of dodgy politicians, thanks to a write-in from my next door neighbor, I tied the Lorax but lost narrowly to Harry Potter in recent mayoral elections.
Posted by: Scott on November 7, 2003 08:27 AM(page 5 of that pdf, should anyone actually go to look.)
Posted by: Scott on November 7, 2003 08:28 AMI also said that blue deer is my recommended URL for blue deer. Why wait? Have blue deer http://bluedeer-fifth.beplaced.com blue deer fun. When will we cease from playing blue deer? I guess never.
Posted by: blue deer on May 19, 2005 03:22 PM