Why is the Post Office the canonical "bad government experience"?

[elfs]

Several other commenters have made this point, but it's one that I think bears analysis. Steve Pearlstein has an article today in which he, as he puts it, "steps over the line" and decides to take sides. You know how it goes, the press headlines read "Republican Say Democrats Want To Kill Your Grandmother; Democrats Disagree." Pearlstein is saying that the Republicans have stepped over the line with mendacity and fury so significant that the press has a duty to say the Republicans are lying. And maybe, with the exception of FOX News, they will.

But one thing Pearlstein tosses an aside is the now-trite comment by the anti-reformists about "Would you like your medicine delivered by the same people who deliver your mail? Or your drivers licence?" The implication is that the government is institutionally incompetent, and the mail service and DMV are prime examples.

Except I have no complaints about the post office or the DMV. In Washington, the Department of Licensing is a reasonably well-run institution. More than half the transactions can be conducted on-line, with the state brokering with authorized, private distribution centers. The Post Office is comparable in service and price to the private mail stores nearby, be it FedEx or UPS.

Compared to the absolutely nightmarish run-arounds I've had with the four-tiered insurance delivery system I had at Isilon, a streamlined alternative would be a blessing of sorts.

Comments

[bikerwalla.livejournal.com]

USPS is a government contractor. It's a bureaucracy, and a hardship, and a long queue, but it's not an agency of the government.

[doodlesthegreat.livejournal.com]

So it's semi-government, because it still reports to Congress for many of it's operating parameters. Even then, it's still a helluva lot better than any private delivery service I've dealt with.

[rhonan.livejournal.com]

I've had that line used on me, which I think is funny. My response is usually a hearty hells yeah, because USPS has never screwed things up as badly as UPS does on a regular basis.

[urox.livejournal.com]

While I've had my share of annoyances with UPS, USPS has also royally screwed up as well.

While on vacation, we asked them to stop our mail. They delivered *some* of it anyway and after asking them to stop, they didn't deliver all of it. When a new apartment building complex opened up and we moved into it, they decided they would only deliver the mail two days a week to it. When we filled out a FORWARDING ADDRESS FORM, they didn't forward all our first class mail.

The mail-woman who delivers to my parents got annoyed at how low their mailbox was (the original mailbox that came with the original house and had been that way for the past 20 years without any sort of comment or alteration) and said they had to raise it and until they did, she would intentionally leave the front of the mailbox open.

[gromm.livejournal.com]

I suspect that the Republican target audience is younger than you, and remembers the last time they had to deal with the DMV as being back in 1972.

[gromm.livejournal.com]

err.. older.

[urox.livejournal.com]

The DMV is still unpleasant in CA. You have to go to the first line to register. Then you have to go to the second line to fill out a bunch of stuff. Then you have to go to a third line to actually take a test and get your license. And each line is an hour or more long. There are even appointments you can make to avoid having to wait in line for so long.

[gromm.livejournal.com]

Heh. That's the same way it is at my dentist. Which kind of makes the whole point of appointments, doesn't it?

[urox.livejournal.com]

The problem is, the appointment is at least two weeks out, during an inconvenient time of the day, and skips you *one* of the lines.

Meanwhile, you're trying to rent an apartment, buy a car, and all these other things that require you to have a license and they all give a puzzled look for a bit when you show them an out of state license.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_candide_/]

Compared to the absolutely nightmarish run-arounds I've had with the four-tiered insurance delivery system

… When I was in grad-school, I fell severely ill and had to go into the hospital. Everything was covered by my student-insurance policy.

The university spent the next FOUR YEARS trying to get the insurance company to pay the hospital.

I spent every 4-6 months going into the the office of the University administrator in charge of dealing with the extortioninsurance company. After the 3rd or 4th time, every time she saw me walk in, she'd look surprised and appalled, then get on the phone, trying her best to remain patient, then apologize to me, again, for having to go through this.


I repeat: Four Years.


For a fully-covered situation, at an in-plan hospital.


The DMV may make you wait. There may be lines at the post office. But they don't play games with you for FOUR YEARS.

"Best healthcare in the world," my ample gay ass.

[gromm.livejournal.com]

As a Canadian, I've never had that problem. My dental insurance has been mildly retarded on occasion (the dentist doesn't like the insurance company much either), but never *that* bad.