Adventures in India

I won't go into it here, because I'm self-aware enough to know that this post will turn into an enormous rant-fest, but I've had pretty bad luck with the United States Post Office. From lost packages to screwed up mail forwarding, I've experienced it all.

Well, I've decided: It's not them, it's me. My mom told me she'd mailed me a package. So the day I received a package slip stuffed in my front door, I wasn't surprised. After a brief discussion with neighbors, we found out the post office was located nearby in the nearest BDA complex (Bangalore Development Authority - I think. Each "suburb" has it's own BDA complex, I'm referring to the one @ HSR Layout). We piled in an auto and picked it up. Unfortunately, it was not the package from my mother. Rather it was a package of school supplies  I'd expected over three months ago and never received. Bummer - now I have to mail it back, since I already had a chargeback credit on my card.

Anyway, the same day, we came back to the apartment and found another slip. We assumed it was for this same package, and we just managed to miss the mailman in route. I found out four days later that the second slip was for something else. At 1pm on the fourth day, the mailman informed me the package must be picked up by 2pm or it would be sent back to the US. Seriously? I tried to ask why this is the first we'd been told of this, and the mailman miraculously forgot how to speak English (as an aside, this happens VERY often here).



So, I raced to the post office. I made it there by 1:30 and was rather pleased to see there were only three people in "line" in front of me. After several people shoved themselves in front of me, I pulled out the elbows and proceeded to do the same. "When in Rome" and all that. By 2:15, I'd successfully maneuvered to the front, only to be told "lunch break is from 2 - 2:30pm". Seriously?

Luckily for me, I very nice man who knew how this system worked and who also had more height and reach than I, took my package slip and waved it under enough noses to irritate the right person. They fished out my battered package and I went home happy. It was not a fun trip, but it felt surprisingly normal, except for the lack of lines. In the US, you get the pleasure of waiting in a line only to have your hopes of a streamlined, easy process dashed. :)